Raptor
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: Hagrid wins a dragon egg...only what is inside is no dragon. Harry is the first to make eye contact with the creature inside...and ends up with a most unusual familiar. Watch out Hogwarts...things are about to get prehistoric!
1. Chapter 1

_**I blame Jurassic World for this plot bunny. MERRY CHRISTMAS!**_

* * *

Hagrid and the children eagerly awaited the birth of what they all thought to be a dragon's egg. Hagrid hadn't been able to tell what type, but he had been able to keep it warm through judicious use of his kettle and blankets.

The egg had been rocking for over an hour now, and they were all waiting to see what sort of dragon Hagrid had won in his game.

A claw broke out...then a larger chunk fell off. Harry, who was the closest to where it was cracking, came eye-to-eye with the creature.

For a moment, time itself seemed to stand still as the thing blinked, never losing eye contact with the wizard. Then the moment passed and the shell started to develop larger cracks until the beast was full out.

Immediately, Harry knew for a fact this was no dragon.

Hagrid was disappointed, Ron and Hermione were confused.

"Hagrid...where exactly did the man who you beat at poker _get_ this 'dragon'?" asked Harry slowly, his grin never leaving his face.

Hagrid had no reply. He was too disappointed the thing wasn't a dragon.

"What is that thing?" asked Ron.

"I know one thing it isn't," said Harry.

"What's that?" said Hermione.

"I know it's not banned by the ICW. I'm more interested where he got this egg," said Harry.

"So...what are you going to name it?" asked Ron, changing the subject.

"I was thinkin' Norbert," said Hagrid proudly.

"Talon would be a better idea," said Harry.

Hagrid apparently agreed, and since Harry seemed to have an idea of what this was he decided to ask the boy for advice.

"This is primarily a meat eater...and when it gets bigger I'd keep Fang and the students away from it, unless we can train it to avoid humans. It's also a pack hunter, and very intelligent," said Harry, his eagerness obvious.

Harry went and got some rare meat, and started feeding the thing. It was voracious, and seemed to watch Harry's every movement with disturbing attentiveness.

Hermione felt threatened by the creature, and didn't understand why.

* * *

Harry came over every day, always bringing meat with him. Talon seemed to regard Hagrid as the caretaker...but she regarded Harry as her alpha. At least for now.

Weeks turned into months, and Hagrid's new 'acquisition' garnered some interest. Fortunately Harry made a point to be on hand whenever some idiot came too close to Talon.

She particularly disliked the Malfoy family. She always made a series of barking sounds that Harry had learned meant 'attack', 'prey' and 'hunt'.

So far he was having marginal success in mimicking her enough that she understood not to attack just yet.

Hermione found it very disturbing to watch Talon eat her food.

Once the Ministry confirmed it wasn't a dragon, but some species of 'bird' (that came from Harry), they pretty much ignored Talon's existence.

She wasn't a banned pet, just an exotic one.

Finally Hermione couldn't take it anymore.

"Harry...what the bloody hell is Talon?"

"Um...a creature that should be extinct, but somehow isn't? What I want to know is why no one's said anything about it still being around... I mean if one of them is around then why not the Tyrant Lizard as well?" said Harry, muttering to himself. Hermione's wand sparked impatiently.

"Harry. What sort of creature is Talon?"

"A raptor," he said absently.

"That thing is not a raptor or a bird."

"Actually it is. Scientists have conclusively proven that they're more closely related to birds, despite looking like lizards. It's why they're so fast. And raptors are particularly dangerous, as some have speculated that if they hadn't gone extinct, they'd be the dominant species instead of us."

Hermione blinked.

"What."

"Their translated name means 'swift raptor' for a reason," said Harry.

"Harry. What. Is. Talon?" she demanded. That thing gave her the creeps.

"Raptor," repeated Harry. If she couldn't identify a velociraptor on sight, it wasn't his problem. And the irony was that he _wasn't_ lying about what Talon was, just using the accepted abbreviation for it's name.

"Harry."

"Talon is from the family Dromaeosauridae, suborder Theropoda."

"AGH! Forget it! Just don't bring that creature near me anymore," said Hermione, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"Ron doesn't seem to mind it."

"Actually mate, I'd rather not be near that thing either," said Ron, queasily. It always seemed to be sizing him up...and from the way it looked at him, he'd have to say it was planning to make him dinner.

"Suit yourselves. I think Talon likes me better anyway," said Harry.

Both his friends shivered. Talon creeped them out.

* * *

 _The Alpha was back. While the caretaker was big, he was about as dangerous as a half-grown Tall One with none of the killer instinct. He was a threatening to the one called Talon as Plant-Eater-Prey._

 _The Alpha had been firm though. He was not Prey, and neither was the odd smaller creature called Fang._

 _That was alright...Alpha let Talon hunt the big ones with many legs when night fell...and he ran with her allowing her to hunt. The many-legged things were crunchy, but didn't have as much meat as she liked._

 _The hairy one and the gluttonous one annoyed her. They didn't deserve to be part of the Pack, and the Alpha was content to put up with them for now._

 _The one that concerned Talon the most was the old one. She disliked him more than she did the two weaker pack mates that didn't belong. Good thing Alpha let her hide in the forest to observe him without having to put up with him._

 _Even if Alpha had to hit her hard enough to remind her of her place in the pack._

* * *

Harry did not like this detention, even _if_ Talon was with him the entire time. She had grown at a rapid pace, and was now almost to his shoulder in a few scant months.

The weirdest thing though, was her eyes. They had at first been a golden orb, but since her hatching she had started to develop a shade of green he only ever saw in the mirror.

From what little he could find in the library, this was a sign of a familiar bond forming. Certain animals could 'bond' with their owners/masters, and develop physical characteristics to signify that bond.

Eyes were the most common sign.

Harry had looked for it in Hedwig, but despite being a very clever owl, she didn't seem to have developed that special bond with him.

Oh well...at least he didn't have to worry about some idiot Ministry official trying to get Talon's loyalty. Because he had been the first one she saw, he was _her_ Alpha and as long as he remembered to respect the claws and teeth, they'd get along fine.

Pity he couldn't take Talon home with him.

Back to the forest though.

Harry felt alive in a way he couldn't explain as he and Talon stalked through the dense forest looking for the injured unicorn. Harry hadn't needed to explain to Talon that unicorns were off-limits. Like all the other predators in the forest, she smelled 'bad meat' whenever she was near them, and thus didn't hunt them. The centaurs had also made it clear they were not to be trifled with, as a few arrows had convinced her hunting them wasn't worth the trouble.

At least not while the pack was limited to just her and Harry anyway.

The giant spiders, however, still remained very much on her menu. At least the smaller ones anyway.

Harry paused when he found the unicorn. It was either dead, or about to be dead in short order.

Talon growled in her throat, clearly wanting to attack this interloper. She had smelled his weak scent in the forest before, but Harry had managed to teach her not to attack anything without his order.

After the first time he demonstrated the pain the sticks could cause her, she was naturally wary of anyone who had one in hand. He never used the stick on her...but he had used the weak red one as a way of teaching her without harm. She had understood the message.

Ron had just been pissed off that Harry used a stinging hex on him for no reason. He didn't even know Harry had done it in full view of Talon to warn her of the danger.

The sad fact was, Harry trusted the bloodthirsty dinosaur over the humans.

Harry tensed as the thing rose up after killing the unicorn. Whatever it was, it was about to come face to face with a hungry raptor and a vengeful Harry.

Right as he was about to issue the order, Fate intervened.

A centaur appeared and shot at the creature, and Harry felt pure hatred aimed in his direction.

His anger rose in response, and he could feel Talon was balanced on the edge of a knife, ready to lay waste to whatever he told her to.

Sadly, it was not in the cards.

The centaur eyed Talon with wary respect.

"So you are the one that commands the Ancient Hunter. Do not abuse such a gift, Harry Potter."

Harry nodded in acknowledgment of the warning.

"I shall give her the respect her species commands, but I will not let her run the show," he replied evenly.

Firenze looked at him with approval. Clearly the wizard child was smarter than his elders, who only showed caution for the teeth and claws, but not for the mind within.

Only an idiot would dismiss the Ancient Hunter for anything less than a sentient being capable of ripping you apart at the slightest provocation. The fact the Potter boy knew this, and was able to restrain the instincts within, was even more impressive.

Since he knew better than to tempt fate with the Ancient One so close and spoiling for a kill, he lead them back to Hagrid.

* * *

Harry was not in a good mood. For one thing, his 'friends' were more interested in some rock than they were about Talon killing everyone she could get her teeth into.

So what if it turned things into gold and extended life? From what he saw in the forest, it wasn't that big a deal.

Yes, it was a bad thing if Voldemort got his hands on the stone, but quite frankly the Dark Lord didn't even _compare_ to Talon and the fact she was very much alive.

They just didn't understand his fascination with an _animal_.

Then again Hermione would undoubtedly become even more annoying if she knew the impossibility for Talon to exist in this day and age. She might even try to hand his friend over to muggle scientists because they were authority figures.

Quite frankly if it came time to chose between Hermione and Talon, he'd pick the carnivore.

Seeing the gleam in Hermione's eyes, Harry sighed.

"Hermione, explain to me in simple words so even Ron can understand why it's OUR problem?"

Hermione went on a spiel about how they were the only ones who could stop You-Know-Who from getting the stone. Harry patiently listened.

When she ran out of steam, Harry shook his head.

"Okay Hermione, now explain to me in a concise, short rant why it's the job of three FIRST YEARS to fix the mess that the adults made?"

"Because they won't DO anything!" she said emphatically.

"Right, I bet I could take care of the third floor in one easy step. Would that shut you up about it?" he asked calmly.

"Prove it."

"Give me five minutes and I'll have plenty of teachers on the third floor...just for the wrong reasons."

He told the twins to disappear for a few hours while he played a prank on the teachers and made them fear for what they planned for the last feast of the year. Then he went and lied to the head boy and girl about the twins planning to prank the third floor and release some dog that Hagrid had there. A quite determined pair of twins, being avid dog lovers and feeling sorry for "Fluffy", who they learned about from Hagrid.

Then he went back to the common room and looked smug.

"What did you do?" said Hermione.

"Told the Head Boy and Girl the twins were planning to let Fluffy out of the Third Floor because they felt sorry for him," said Harry flatly.

Hermione blinked.

"What."

"Well McGonagal won't believe us, but she WOULD believe the twins were up to something nefarious and keep an eye out for the Third Floor."

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish.

"You _lied_ to a teacher?"

"Hermione, please come out of that bubble you seem to live in. We TRIED to tell her the truth. She didn't believe us. For magic's sake, she sent us into a forest with something attacking UNICORNS. So I gave her a threat she can believe and made sure she was sufficiently warned enough to do something about it. If the stone still gets stolen, then the worst I did was lie about a prank. Not exactly detention worthy and takes all blame for the theft off us," said Harry.

Ron stared.

"What?"

"I used some misdirection and common bloody sense to get out of something that is NOT our problem," explained Harry.

"Oh. Okay."

* * *

Later that night Professor Quirrel was chased away from the Third Floor after McGonagall and Snape busted him in the room with the dog. They got a nasty shock when the turban fell off during the fighting and found Voldemort on the back of his head.

Needless to say McGonagall tracked down who told the Head boy and girl the twins were planning to set the Cerberus loose and called Harry in.

"Mr. Potter...why did you see fit to lie to the us about the twins planning to set the dog loose?"

Harry gave her an incredulous look.

"Because adults, for some reason, seem to think first years can't display common bloody sense and you refused to take us seriously? You dismissed us out of hand when we tried to warn you directly, so I figured the easiest way to shut Hermione up about the stone being taken was to lie and have you there for a different reason. If nothing happened, then no harm done," he said like he was speaking to a four-year-old.

McGonagall bristled.

"And lets not forget the fact you sent three first years into the FORBIDDEN FOREST with something attacking unicorns!"

McGonagall flinched.

"Coincidentally what are the laws about owning a familiar?"

"Ask Professor Flitwick."

* * *

Professor Flitwick gave Harry the basic laws of familiars, and what their masters were obligated to do.

Upon finding out the lizard outside had bonded to Harry, the boy could almost _feel_ the man's relief.

Apparently Talon worried the teachers as much as she worried Hermione and Ron.

"So...can I take her back home with me? I mean I can't say I'm entirely sure Talon will stick to the forests if I'm not around. And she's been giving some people speculative looks."

Flitwick paled.

"I'll speak to Hagrid and in the mean time we'll get you a modified trunk that you can keep with you."

"Like a mobile doghouse or something?" asked Harry, cocking his head.

"Something like that. We'll need specifics about her habitat and the like, though at least you won't have to worry about the Ministry coming down on you because she's not a magical pet."

They had run extensive tests on Talon and she was definitely a non-magical pet. So keeping her in a muggle neighborhood should be safe.

Harry once again thanked whatever gods there were that wizards had no idea what Talon actually _was._ And that the few muggleborns who might have a clue automatically assumed she was some magical species that just happened to resemble a raptor closely.

Harry was going to have _fun_ , even if Vernon found out they weren't allowed to use magic on the holidays. Talon would keep them from bothering him.

Hagrid was somewhat disappointed, but he at least knew Harry would treat Talon right and knew how to care for her properly. Well, that and sometimes he felt like Talon was sizing him up for dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Stares in shock at the sheer amount of reviews on the first chapter alone.**_

 _ **Loving the LOVE for Raptor here. Now, before anyone asks why Hermione couldn't figure out WHAT Raptor is, the answer is simple. She's a girl who prefers Modern History to PRE-History, and this is set shortly before Jurassic Park. And Harry will have three, count them THREE animagus forms. Anyone who can guess why will get a cookie and their username mentioned when Harry unlocks his animal form~!  
**_

* * *

It was official... Harry loved his new familiar.

Talon not only helped with the absurd number of cats roaming the neighborhood (thank you Mrs. Figg for not getting your cats fixed...), she also kept his aunt and uncle from bothering him.

All Harry had to do to get them to leave him alone was let them meet Talon for about five minutes, then keep bringing her out to remind them that yes, she was real, and yes, she would eat them when Harry gave the command.

Watching her tear apart one of Mrs. Figg's cats had been a very...graphic...demonstration of what Talon could do to them.

Not even Dudley was willing to go anywhere _near_ Talon when she was out...and Harry let her out regularly.

The best part, the absolutely _best_ part of it all?

Not a single soul in Little Whinging would believe Vernon if he told them his delinquent nephew had a velociraptor as a pet. If he did tell, they might start to question his word on Harry, or worse, his sanity.

Which meant Hedwig was allowed to stay out so long as Harry agreed to keep his new pet far, far from them.

* * *

House elves were...interesting. One second Dobby tried to get Harry in trouble, the next he couldn't get away from Talon fast enough.

Sure, he had to make sure the raptor was inside her mini tropical climate, but it was so worth not having a fake underage magic charge on him.

However Vernon very nearly overcame his fear of Talon long enough to try and strangle Harry for dealing with the elf. So Harry gave him something else to focus on.

A chance to be rid of him for the rest of the summer. He did need to let the cat population grow again, and Mrs. Figg was starting to ask questions about her missing pets.

The last thing he needed was for her to figure out why there were only a small number of cats compared to the _fifty_ that had originally been roaming around because she never bothered to have hers fixed.

Vernon dumped him off at the corner a few blocks from the Cauldron, and Harry adjusted his baseball cap before going in. So long as no one recognized him, he could get some shopping done on both sides.

It was in the muggle world that he found his first big clue towards where Hagrid had managed to acquire a velociraptor egg.

iNGen was a relatively muggle company that had been making some very odd purchases over the years while under the control of the eccentric John Hammond. Rumor had it he was up to something very big indeed, something involving large quantities of fossilized amber, ostrich eggs, and a few islands off Costa Rica.

What little information there was happened to come from a smaller project abandoned in favor of something grander and considerably more expensive.

Something involving the word Jurassic.

Raptors were from the Cretaceous period, not the Jurassic...but the egg Hagrid had hatched Talon from had been an ostrich egg, so it was a pretty good place to start. Plus quite a few experts on cloning had been pulled in on the project.

It was unusual enough that someone did an article wondering what Hammond was up to this time.

All of it easily obtainable by an almost twelve-year-old boy with a raptor for a pet.

Time to test the waters with the eccentric millionaire.

* * *

The goblins seemed...happy?...about Harry's interest in his finances. So much so that his investment manager agreed to look into John Hammond's newly acquired islands and possibly see if he would be interested in a new investor.

One who might eventually insist on seeing what he was up to.

Harry couldn't access the main vault (surprising him when he found out the one he normally accessed was his trust fund) but he could work with the goblins to make investments on his behalf, for a percentage.

When he converted some of his gold bullion into cold hard cash (having quickly figured out it was easier to covert on the muggle side than vice versa), Harry immediately rented out a hotel, claiming his grandparents would be picking him up in a few days.

More than enough time to sort out his finances in peace without having to worry about someone trying to bring him back to his aunt and uncle's house. Especially since he claimed his last name was "Swift".

* * *

Hermione was having a very, very bad summer. It started with the knowledge that Harry would be taking a dangerous animal home with him (though for some reason it seemed to understand him, which always worried her) and eventually ended in her parents taking her to a natural history museum to try and take her mind off things.

Instead it only made her anxiety worse.

"Hermione sweetie, you really need to calm down."

"My friend is living with a carnivorous lizard that is more intelligent than most of the students at my school, and is bigger than _he_ is, and you expect me to calm down?" said Hermione.

"How about we go visit the dinosaur exhibit?" suggested her father.

"I'd rather see the one on science that doesn't specialize in things long dead," said Hermione.

Had she known exactly what Talon was, she might have been more interested and far more worried about her friend's health.

As it was, she missed yet another opportunity to figure out the true nature of the rather terrifying Talon.

* * *

Harry didn't know what possessed him to teach Talon Morse Code, but it was the best money he had ever spent.

While he could guess the basic gist of what Talon was trying to impart in her usual manner of speaking, having a common language was much easier...and made translation interesting.

He always knew Talon was infinitely smarter than most of his fellow classmates. It took her a week to figure out Morse code, since she couldn't read. It took him a few days longer before they were holding long conversations involving her clicking her large claw on something hard and him responding with a claw he bought online.

You really could find anything on the internet these days.

Harry looked up when he heard the crash, and found Errol out cold on his bed. Hedwig hooted in disapproval. She barely tolerated Talon's existence as it was, and Talon had apparently come to the conclusion the owl was part of the 'Pack' considering how she treated Harry.

So long as it kept Hedwig from being eaten, Harry wasn't going to ask.

He read the missive, looked at the comatose Errol, and got an idea.

Errol needed the retirement, and he wasn't going to embarrass the Weasleys. Though if they did want him he'd have to warn Ron about Talon coming along.

He sent his reply back with a cheap barn owl with a note at the bottom stating that he was Errol's replacement and that he'd send Errol back when he recovered. Surely Mrs. Weasley wouldn't take offense to him giving the poor owl a break, right? And if she did, then she could always pay him back the five sickles he spent on the barn owl.

He made sure to mention that as well. And that he didn't mind if she paid in installments. A sickle here and there when they could afford it.

* * *

Ron took one look at the reply and paled.

"Oh bloody hell...I forgot about that thing..." said Ron at the table.

"Ronald! Language!"

Fred read over his shoulder and winced.

"It might not be a good idea to bring Harry over mum... though maybe he could get rid of the gnomes in our garden or something..." said Fred.

"Wait, you mean he actually managed to get that thing approved?!" said George, staring at Fred in something almost akin to horror.

"Boys, what is going on?" demanded their mother.

"Talon," said Fred, George and Ron at once, before shuddering. Percy shuddered as well when they mentioned that name.

"Who or what is Talon?" asked Arthur.

"Harry's new familiar. Hagrid got some weird egg last year playing poker, and it apparently bonded with Harry instead of him. I guess he got the familiar application approved, because he said if he came over Talon would be coming with him," explained Fred.

"And why do you all seem less than enthusiastic about this?" asked Arthur.

"That thing is creepy. It almost looks like it's planning to eat you alive after playing with you first," said Ron emphatically.

"Yeah...we've had to avoid the forest since she got too big for us to avoid," said George. One near run-in with a half-grown Talon was enough for them. They were just lucky Talon got distracted by her favorite snack of Acromantulas.

Molly didn't like the sound of this at all.

"What does this Talon look like?"

"A small dragon without wings or ability to breath fire. And the Ministry officials had to run tests twice to confirm she wasn't a magical pet before Hagrid was allowed to keep her penned in the forest. I think Harry had her trained to go after the large Acromantula population to keep her entertained," said Percy.

"She has these wicked claw things on each foot. And she's fast. Really, really fast," said Fred.

"But the worst part of all is her eyes. They're the same color as Harry's, but it's almost like she's _thinking_ when you look at them. As if she's planning the best way to take you down and eat you," shuddered George. That had been the primary reason they avoided the forest after the run-in. He still saw those eyes in his nightmares.

"This creature sounds dangerous," said Molly, and you could see her thought patterns.

"Harry has her more or less trained. She avoids the castle and the village, and he makes sure that she only goes after things he approves of. She's nearly gone after Draco a few times if Harry hadn't stopped her," said Ron.

"Draco as in Draco Malfoy?" asked Arthur, his estimation of the beast going up.

"Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott...a bunch of Slytherins from our year. Though they've quit going after her when she nearly bit Malfoy's arm off."

The only reason Talon hadn't been put down for that was because Harry had started the application for bringing his new familiar home the day before. Nobody wanted to piss off the Boy-Who-Lived over the matter of a pet. Especially when Harry provided memories of Malfoy deliberately antagonizing his familiar previously.

Well...that and the fact Talon would absolutely go into the forest and pick them off if they tried to hit her with spells.

"...Perhaps I should see this Talon firsthand. Did the letter say anything else?"

Ron was about to say no, but Fred had a larger attention span.

"Harry said we could keep the barn owl he sent it back with, so Errol can get a break from the long flights. And if you wanted to pay him back he didn't mind if you did it in bits and pieces, since he knows we're not exactly rich," said Fred, reading the letter.

"How much was the owl?" asked Arthur.

"Five sickles, and he got the most reasonably priced one," read Fred, squinting at the letter.

"Did he say where we could find him?"

"According to this he's withing walking distance of the Cauldron and usually eats lunch there...but he has to keep Talon in her trunk, otherwise she might cause problems," read Fred.

"I'll go visit Harry and see if we can't work out an arrangement," said Arthur.

* * *

Arthur found Harry reading something that looked like an investment sheet. Harry noticed him immediately.

"Um...who are you?"

"I'm Ron's father, Arthur."

"Sorry. Should have guessed by the hair color."

"It's quite alright. My sons were someone...perturbed...when you mentioned your familiar. That and I was hoping to come to an arrangement over the owl you sent."

"Like I said before, I know how touchy Ron gets about the fact your family isn't rich, so I was hoping to avoid him being overly jealous over an owl of all things."

Arthur nodded in agreement. The fact was Harry had also spared his ears from Molly's temper.

"Thank you for that. While I understand the intention behind it, Molly would have thrown up a fuss about charity. However I was more concerned about this...Talon...of yours."

"We should really find a place where I can let her out. It's not that I don't trust you, but I really don't want to explain to the people at the hotel why I'm bringing an older man to my room alone," said Harry wincing.

Arthur ran that through his own head and winced as well. Harry was definitely more sensible than Ron.

In a discreet park with a few wild dogs, Harry let his familiar out.

Arthur could see why she unnerved his sons. There was an intelligence there that people weren't used to seeing in the eyes of an animal, and this one was clearly a meat eater.

The only reason he didn't immediately go for his wand was the fact that this...Talon...stayed close to Harry and didn't go after the dogs, though she was clearly eying them like they were prey. He could also see why his son described her as a 'small dragon without wings or fire'. She had the same head shape as a dragon with all the teeth and claws of a predator.

Be that as it may, Arthur was very uncomfortable around the beast...and he knew Molly would never allow the creature anywhere near the Burrow once she saw it. She'd correctly assume the animal would give Ginerva nightmares.

Still, that didn't mean he couldn't keep an eye out for Harry, despite his rather terrifying bodyguard in Talon.

"We'll be coming to Diagon for school supplies next week. You're welcome to join us," said Arthur.

"You know if you wanted I could loan your family enough galleons to get Ron a new wand. I'm tired of him complaining about his in the common room."

"With a similar payment plan like the owl?" said Arthur.

Harry nodded.

"If your wife asks, just say I'm trying to foster a long relationship with the Weasley family with no strings attached. Though I'm not particularly interested in signing any marriage contracts until after I've graduated," said Harry quickly. He remembered Ron had a sister, and the last thing he wanted was to be stuck with a betrothal contract because he happened to loan them some gold.

Arthur nodded in agreement.

"I can bring the standard loan agreement between families...and a book on contracts from home. It doesn't get much use these days, I'm afraid."

"Gentleman's agreement then, sealed with a handshake?" suggested Harry.

Arthur firmly shook his hand. At least with Harry there was little chance of him holding the loan over his head for the next two generations, like most pure bloods.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry was snickering evilly at the way people shit themselves with Talon out. Sure, he had made certain she had been properly feed with some chickens for her to chase and eat (he preferred to get her live food, and she wasn't that enthusiastic about already butchered meat except as treats) but that didn't mean that people were willing to share a compartment with him with his familiar out and about.

And since she was fully registered and even had a collar on (it was little more than a strip of leather with a name tag) the prefects couldn't do anything about it. Particularly since Harry had made a point to show them he had all the proper licensing and paperwork filed with the Ministry.

She was a non-magical pet that scared the hell out of wizards. There was legally nothing they were allowed to do, and no one wanted to get on Potter's bad side for deliberately killing his familiar.

Blood feuds had been started for less.

Harry had even run into Hagrid just outside Diagon and had come up with a way to keep first years from accidentally wandering into Talon's pen.

There was going to be a wide fence with clear, unmistakable warning signs stating that entering the paddock was a bad idea, but they were perfectly safe so long as they stayed on their side of the fence. It was going to be painted in bright orange, so there was little doubt which side was the safe one. The other side was going to be bright white, so Talon knew to avoid it.

In exchange, Talon would be given free run of the forest, since she already avoided the centaurs and the unicorns. She wasn't strong enough or deadly enough to take out Aragog, and she left Hagrid alone. And no one particularly cared if she ate the smaller Acromantula.

Hell, the centaurs kept the spiders from going after her because she left them alone!

As for the train. Well, Harry could honestly claim she was Malfoy repellent. After the show Lucius pulled in Diagon and the book he nicked from Ginny's cauldron, he wasn't in the mood to deal with Draco.

It took him a bit, but eventually he found an empty compartment. Well, almost empty.

The pale blond girl was obviously a first year, and she barely looked up when he knocked.

"Mind if I sit here? All the other compartments refused to share," he asked mildly.

Share so long as he had Talon out, anyway. It still made him grin at how freaked out the wizards were because they recognized they weren't the top of the food chain as long as Talon was around.

The girl looked up with heavy-lidded eyes, and said pleasantly "It would be interesting to have an Ancient one so close."

Remembering what the centaurs insisted on calling Talon, Harry cautiously entered. The girl had absolutely no fear of his familiar.

Talon used her dominant claw to tap out a specific rhythm. Harry took out the odd clicker he had found at the pet store. The one online hadn't worked out like he hoped.

It made speaking to Talon so much easier. He didn't have to worry about damaging the fossil he now wore around his neck.

"So...what's your name?"

"My name is Luna Lovegood, though people call me Looney. You're Harry Potter."

Not for the first time Harry cursed his scar.

"This is Talon. Not to be rude or anything, but why aren't you afraid of her?"

"It's clear the Ancient one isn't hungry at the moment, and I'm not stupid enough to do anything that puts me on the menu," she replied equally flat.

Talon, having more or less figured out the English language (the spoken one anyway) made a series of clicks with her claw. Harry looked at her quizzically.

"Would you like to be friends?" he asked. Luna beamed at him.

It was certainly a less awkward way of asking if she wanted to be part of the Pack. Talon was of the firm opinion he needed to dump Hermione and Ron for pack members that wouldn't hold them down in a hunt.

Hermione was weak, and not of much use while hunting. While she had her uses in a learning environment like class, she was a little too high strung for survival and killing prey to eat. Harry had agreed, and decided to not bother asking her if she wanted to join him in feeding Talon.

She was already incredulous when he had told her he had taught Talon to 'speak' in Morse code. Her world view was too narrow for his tastes.

And Ron...well, Ron was a coward and had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with Talon. He was more interested in stuffing his face than learning to exercise or use his brain.

Therefor anyone who was relatively sane and showed actual common sense was more than acceptable as replacement friends. Especially if Talon liked them.

"So...what's that you're reading?"

"The _Quibbler_. My daddy is the editor," said Luna proudly.

"Really? Got an extra copy?"

Luna passed one of her extras, and within the first few pages Harry looked up incredulous.

"I don't believe it."

Luna almost looked disappointed...until he finished his sentence.

"Your dad actually knows how to spell and uses proper grammar. Not even the Prophet bothers to spell check their work! And he uses cohesive sentences!" said Harry in disbelief. Luna looked rather happy at that.

"Daddy hires more muggleborns to do the articles than the Prophet does."

"Figures. Think he'd be interested in a student's perspective on Hogwarts?"

As Talon settled on the floor, Luna and Harry chatted all the way to Hogwarts as Harry had put on his school clothes sans robe. It was usually the robe that garnered extra attention on the muggle half. He looked like a student getting on the train to his boarding school otherwise.

He hadn't let Talon out until they were past the barrier and on the train.

Harry did look up halfway to the school though, when he saw something so odd he had to comment on it.

"...Is that Ron flying a car next to the train?" he asked.

A few moments later Hermione came in with the same question.

"Did you see Ron in a flying car?" she asked, trying not to pay any mind to Talon.

"So I wasn't seeing things. Think we should warn McGonagall?" asked Harry.

"Who knows how many saw him," said Hermione.

Harry undid the lock on Hedwig's door and wrote a short note to their head of house warning her what Ron was doing. Then he let Hedwig out.

Then Hermione took full notice Talon was out.

"Harry...why is that _thing_ out of Hogwarts?"

Harry reached into his bag and pulled out the paperwork. Hermione seemed to count to ten before she carefully asked "You didn't bring Talon home with you...did you?"

"Let's just say that my uncle was much more reasonable with a very visible threat he couldn't explain to his neighbors, and my cousin refused to lay a hand on me while Talon was out."

"Harry, that thing is a menace."

"Hermione, because Talon was verified as a non-magical familiar, I was well within the law to bring her home. The Ministry quit caring after they verified she wasn't a magical creature. So long as I don't go revealing magic, it's not their problem. Same goes with harming or killing others using mundane methods."

Hermione stared at him. Harry smiled cheekily.

"I looked up the most recent law book I could find to see how far it extended. It stops at the mundane methods. They'll investigate the crime if it's done by a magical, or involves one, but they're fairly lax so long as it's done without magic. I could walk up to Draco right now, shoot him point blank in the head...and as long as the gun isn't enchanted or magicked in any way, the Ministry would care less."

"That's completely barbaric."

"Not my fault if they don't think much of muggles."

Or the fact they didn't know what a raptor was.

Hermione left the compartment looking disturbed and slightly horrified at how backward the magical society was.

"So where were we?"

"Houses, I believe," she replied.

"Oh yeah. Anyway I don't think you'd enjoy Ravenclaw that much. While they enjoy reading, they're also nosy as hell. Should have seen how they reacted to Talon."

The sheer amount of questions he had to field...he just wrote up most of what he knew about Talon and her species, then handed it to the Charms Professor. That stopped most of it.

They did express disbelief that Talon was a "raptor" though.

Harry had an idea, and asked if Luna's dad wouldn't mind posting an article about Talon in the Quibbler to shut up most of the questions this year.

"GRYFFINDOR!" announced the Hat, and Luna sat next to Harry. Because Talon wasn't exactly _welcome_ inside the castle, Harry made sure she knew to head to the forest using his hand-held clicking device. Several students looked at him oddly when they heard the "click-click-click" of the thing in Harry's hand, but most were beyond shocked when Talon made a sort of weird warbling sound in her throat before bolting straight into the forest.

Everyone stared at him.

"What? I figured out how to teach her Morse code. Easier on the throat in any case," said Harry shrugging.

Luna sat next to Harry, and they continued the discussion they started on the train.

As it turned out, some of the creatures Luna and her father were trying to hunt down were actually dinosaurs Harry recognized. Like triceratops, for instance. And while Harry had books, he was smart enough to hide them from Hermione.

Hermione, who very clearly stated when he offered to let her read them, that she had no interest in things long dead unless they were important to _human_ history. Dinosaurs did not enter that equation.

It made Harry laugh inside, because if she _HAD_ borrowed the books she finally would have found out what Talon was.

Then Harry got a good, long look at their new Defense teacher and groaned.

"If he turns out to be a bigger man-whore than he was in the bookstore, I'm bringing Talon in," he said flatly.

"But Harry, he's written all those books!" said Hermione.

"So has Stephanie Meyer, and her books are only worth kindling," said Harry flatly.

"...Who's Stephanie Meyer?" asked Ron.

"She wrote the _Twilight_ series, a four-book long saga about an emo-girl in a small town in America who falls for some vegetarian vampire boy who's clearly a virgin. They have a potential love triangle with a werewolf love interest that ends with the werewolf falling for the girl's newborn, and even put in a fight scene with the vampire leaders that goes nowhere because it all blows over when they found out that the half vampire kid wasn't turned but born. It was stupid and they got so much of it wrong that I could barely stand finishing the series," said Harry in disgust. "Vampires have not and will never sparkle."

And he would _love_ to introduce that woman to Talon an explain in exacting detail how he felt about that series.

Harry had an envelope in his hand from a very...unusual...writer.

John Hammond had personally sent a reply to his polite request to meet him around a week before Christmas. Since Harry didn't plan on spending any time in the castle when he could be exploring London (no one said he _had_ to go to his relatives during the holidays), he figured that was the perfect time to meet the eccentric millionaire and find out what the heck he was doing with all the amber he was digging out.

Until the Christmas hols, Harry planned to kill time by writing Hammond and chatting about dinosaurs.

He wondered if the man even knew that he was writing to a twelve-year-old with a velociraptor for a familiar.

Probably not, though his reaction would be funny.

Still, he did at least confirm that Hammond had successfully _cloned_ a dinosaur. And he planned to clone more.

The problem was that the original clone had gone missing, and no one was owning up to the fact.

He didn't say _which_ dinosaur he had first cloned, as it had been potluck until the thing hatched, and the egg had gone missing very shortly after the embryo proved viable.

Harry suspected Talon was that missing dinosaur.

Lockhart was useless, and Harry had managed to get a pass on his classes by convincing the current Care of Magical Creatures professor into letting him act as Teacher's Assistant for the year, as he fully planned to take the class next year.

In exchange he had to ingrain a respect for the teeth and claws of animals, particularly things like dragons.

In short he had to keep Talon from eating the students while he explained why they should never turn their back on anything that had sharp teeth, sharper claws, and was a known meat eater.

Everyone soon grew very, very relieved knowing Harry had managed to partially train the lizard creature that was his familiar...because wizards weren't used to being second-best on the food chain.

Well that and Harry dragged one of the Acromantula that Talon had killed, and the teacher gave a quick lesson on the beasts before Talon started eating.

Watching that was not pleasant for the faint of heart.


	4. Chapter 4

**I will give props to anyone who can guess what Harry's animagus form is early. The only hint I'm giving is that he can split it into two and has to learn how to combine them.  
**

 **Also, Hermione WILL eventually find out what Talon is, but it's going to be a running gag and it'll cause her to hit the bottle realizing the answer was in front of her the ENTIRE TIME. XD**

* * *

Harry didn't know whether he was amused or irritated by the youngest Weasley.

She was clearly a fan girl, which was extremely annoying, but she was also very shy. She was also very, very jealous of Luna because the girl was the only one who could get Harry to talk rather animatedly about something other than Quidditch. Yet at the same time she couldn't say more than a word or two and had trouble handling Harry's complete attention the few times she _did_ get it.

But the biggest reason Harry disliked her was the way she looked at Talon. Or to be more precise, the way Talon looked at her.

Here he thought Talon only looked at RON that way. If given the choice, it was clear Talon would go after Ginny without a second thought.

With that in mind, Harry made it very, very clear to the girl to never, ever be on the "white" side of the perimeter fencing.

Fred and George were lucky. After some intense debating with Talon, they were now considered "pack" by the raptor with the agreement that they would help cull the bigger acromantula in the forest. So long as they were allowed to harvest the venom for some quick cash anyway. Talon could care less about the fangs, so long as the left her in peace to eat the meat, which wasn't worth much as potions ingredients.

They were just happy to be "off the menu" to the mini dragon as they called her.

In any case, having the red head around was proving to be a test in his patience.

But if Talon had a sincere distaste for Ginny, it was nothing compared to what happened the _one_ time Lockhart came by to 'retrieve' Harry for his class.

Because Harry had a valid reason for avoiding DADA (which had most of the boys in his year cursing him for thinking of it first) and was turning in regular essays to the Department in charge of magical education (after explaining in detail why he was avoiding the class in question), there was very little Lockhart could do.

And that was before Lockhart finally had a face-to-face meeting with Talon.

The raptor quite literally licked it's lips, and made a running start after the idiot, to the amusement of Professor Kettleburn.

Lockhart ran screaming with a suspicious wet stain originating from between his legs that streamed down his pants.

Talon broke off the chase when he made it to the door, and went up to Harry expectantly.

Harry promptly pulled out some jerky because Talon had a real penchant for dried meat for some reason. None of the store-bought stuff either...he just gave the recipe to the house elves (and hadn't that been a shock finding out who made the meals at the school...they took his recipe books and were currently churning out new things to eat once a week) and made it a special treat for Talon. And for getting rid of Lockhart, Harry made sure to give her extras.

He really, really didn't like that man.

* * *

Harry's correspondence with Hammond seemed to increase over the next few months, as Harry had an "insight" to working with carnivorous animals.

Eventually Hammond told him of the park he planned to create on Isla Nublar where his cloned dinosaurs would wander almost freely (the herbivores anyway) and where people could see something they couldn't hope to find anywhere else.

It was Harry's suggestion that they wait on some of the lesser known species like the spinosaurus until they had the general park completed.

And he was really against having velociraptors in the park unless they had them perfectly contained in a self-enclosed system that was separate from the rest of the park except for certain functions like the feeding.

Raptors, as he knew intimately, were often smarter than humans and a hundred times more vicious. And he didn't feel comfortable about treating them the same as the T-Rex.

A T-Rex was easy to handle. It had poor vision, followed thermal signatures, and was more or less a brute. Harry could deal with an irate T-Rex.

An angry velociraptor was a different story. They had _intelligence._ And they were small enough to fit into most buildings and figure out how to open DOORS. Not to mention the fact they were pack hunters, and very good at coming at you in angles you wouldn't hope to hell of expecting unless you actually studied them.

Harry honestly believed that velociraptors were much, much more dangerous than a single Tyrannosaurus Rex.

He would rather Hammond go overboard on the Raptor paddock than to skimp on even the smallest detail, and one of Hammond's favorite sayings about the park was that he planned to "spare no expense" on it.

Which was why after hearing Hammond successfully cloned his "first" raptor Harry made absolutely certain to emphasize that he put as many protections around that paddock as humanly possible. Even if it meant putting extra protections around the loading dock, like a fence meant to keep the workers safe while they moved the transport into the gate.

"Harry, who are you always writing to?" asked Hermione.

"Well while I was in Diagon I figured I'd see if I couldn't invest my money into something interesting. I found someone who was making a new sort of animal park for extremely rare animals, and since I'm part of the target audience he's been asking me for advice," said Harry. "That plus the fact I'm helping to fund some of the animals means I have a vested interest in seeing this park succeed."

All true and yet not giving away a single detail.

"Who is your partner?"

"A muggle by the name of John Hammond," he said honestly.

"I've heard about him! He's that odd millionaire who funds digs all over the world, and has one of the largest amber collections!" said Colin eagerly.

"Another dinosaur enthusiast? Count me out," said Hermione in annoyance. Why did the first years all suddenly start talking about animals dead for so long that they became fossils?

Human history was so much more fascinating and relevant.

Harry grinned at her back. Not his problem if she was too blind to realize there was a reason why most of the first years recognized what Talon was. At least the boys anyway.

Colin's dad nearly had a heart attack after he sent some photos of Talon eating an acromantula...at least before he read the part where he always stayed behind "his" side of the fence and that the raptor wasn't allowed in the castle anyway.

Harry was personally taking summer courses in paleontology hoping to learn as much as he could about Talon and the other dinosaurs Hammond planned to 'clone' back into life.

His age wasn't a very big factor, only his interest and ability to understand the subject. He was particularly interested in a Dr. Grant's work on velociraptors...the man was brilliant and understood the species extremely well.

Harry had high hopes of getting a passport before Christmas and possibly meeting the man in person, if he could find out where the scientist was digging.

And since he had made it clear he was only "funding" a muggle park, none of the magicals (even Dumbledore dismissed it as unimportant) took any note of his correspondence.

It was, after all, a purely muggle venture and one that the pure bloods assumed Potter was active in purely as a diversion. Had they known exactly why he was funding this particular venture they would have been far, far more nervous.

Talon wanted a proper raptor pack, and Harry had more than enough magic to support a few more familiars. Toss in the fact that he was helping the eccentric muggle play at being god and you'd get a dangerous combination.

Especially when Harry showed him Talon and how it _was_ possible (within certain parameters being met) to train a raptor.

"So what are your plans for Christmas?" asked Hermione.

"Well my family's planning to visit the London Zoo for a bit, before we head to Costa Rica," Harry lied smoothly. "My maternal grandfather said he'd try to visit, but there have been some scheduling issues."

"I didn't know your grandfather was still alive," said Hermione.

"He's a bit odd, but my aunt only agreed to meet because he was paying for the tickets," said Harry.

Actually he was meeting Hammond at the London zoo in front of the reptile exhibit. The man was eager to meet his most mysterious 'investor' and had openly approved of Harry's choice of venue for finally meeting face to face. He'd know it was him by the fact Harry planned to have Hedwig on his shoulder, and she had sent enough letters for him to recognize the owl on sight. He found the fact that his "investor" still used messenger birds quaint, and had no idea that Harry wasn't even thirteen yet.

And Hammond looked old enough to be his grandfather, and Harry knew for a fact his family wasn't going to spend Christmas at Privet Drive, so no one could refute his claims.

That and the only person who knew for a fact his maternal grandfather was actually dead (killed in a car accident with his grandmother) was Snape. And Harry wasn't likely to share his holiday plans with the man anytime soon.

Besides, he was eager for a preview of the park before it was officially up and running.

* * *

Considering how peaceful the year had been (even if one were to discount the mess that Nick's Death Day party almost started, all because the twins decided to prank the Slytherins and Harry got the blame) Harry was honestly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

That came when he decided to use the book he nicked from Ginny's cauldron as a sketchpad.

When he realized nothing was leaving a mark, not even crayon, he tentatively wrote gibberish.

And got an odd reaction back. The book could _talk_.

Now, rather than keep the book, Harry decided to do the sensible thing.

He borrowed a school owl and wrote a short, if to the point, note to Arthur Weasley and explained why he was sending a book.

Lucius Malfoy would find himself in hot water...especially since Harry overheard Draco foolishly talk about how the Aurors "wouldn't find anything, since his father had hidden most of the dark artifacts under the drawing room floor".

Harry was very, very good at being quiet and _listening_ , which was much harder than it sounded.

Not only did he get rid of what turned out to be a fragment of "Voldemort" (and weren't the Unspeakables happy to have something new to torture...er, play with...) but he got the Malfoys in trouble because Draco had a loud mouth and not a lot of sense.

He couldn't wait until Christmas.

* * *

Harry almost couldn't get out of the castle, but fortunately McGonagall knew next to nothing about his home life or the fact he was planning to visit his 'maternal grandfather' for Christmas.

Some of the teachers KNEW his mother, and might be aware that his actual grandfather had died years ago.

He was just glad his passport came through, even if it had been a pain in the ass going through the goblins.

Talon, as always, immediately went into her 'dino-carrier' as he cheerfully called it. Mostly because she hated the cold and it was charmed to be at a tropical heat all the time. She slept in it often to stay warm, since Scotland wasn't anywhere near the temperature she'd naturally live with.

However it was his meeting with Hammond the next day that had him grinning.

John Hammond was like a big kid in an old body. They got along great once he got over his shock at Harry's age.

"You really must come see the island. Some of the brontosaurs are finally tall enough to reach the treetops! And our velociraptor pen has extra precautions like you suggested...our resident animal director agreed that they were absolutely necessary after we realized how intelligent they were. We've had a few minor mishaps, but so far there have been no fatalities," said Hammond jovially.

"I'm especially interested in your T-Rex. Is it true that it clocked thirty when you were watching it?" said Harry eagerly.

"Of course, of course. We've spared no expense guarding the carnivores, after all."

'Spare no expense' seemed to be Hammond's motto. Too bad his company didn't agree and neither did his other investors.

Harry only agreed so long as there was a valid reason for it. Like safety issues.

Hammond did frown when he found out Harry already had a passport and had no problems with boarding a plan with a stranger...at least until Harry offered to show him his 'other' pet.

The moment they were on Isla Nublar and Harry knew it was safe to let out Talon, Hammond nearly had a heart attack.

At least until Harry demonstrated Talon was trained (or as close as you could get) and not particularly interested in attacking anyone.

Hammond clearly had a mischievous streak, because Harry set Talon loose in the hatching lab and scared Wu, the scientist in charge of the embryos and the reason why the park was even remotely possible, so bad that he wet himself from coming face-to-face with a dinosaur.

Mostly because Talon looked like she wanted to _eat_ him.

All in all, it was a very successful Christmas...especially since Harry got to meet Hammond's family.


	5. Chapter 5

**I have four, count them FOUR people who have guessed Harry's animagus form. Which will be revealed in two chapters. I will post a shout out to the people who correctly guessed Harry's animagus form early! Also, in case any of you were worried this fic wouldn't last, I have NINETEEN CHAPTERS written already.**

 **I type fast, enough said.**

* * *

John Hammond was many things...but a fool wasn't one of them. He also wasn't blind.

It was clear his mystery investor had a bad home life.

Sure finding out a twelve-year-old was his mysterious new investor was a bit of a shock...but then again so was the fact he had somehow managed to get his hands on the missing egg...and train it! The idea of teaching the raptors Morse Code had never occurred to any of them. They hadn't considered the possibility that they had the brain capacity for it.

Obviously raptors were smarter than anyone had believed.

Hammond was planning to give Harry an all access pass to the island every summer he was off from school. Partly so they could get input from the boy, who knew more about dinosaurs than even his best people, but mostly so he could train the raptors.

Five seconds around him and Talon, and they were acting like a coordinated unit...and that scared him. That scared him a lot. Not that they followed his lead, but that they immediately teamed up to take down a bull with terrifying efficiency.

And from the looks Harry had been shooting Wu, it was a very strong, very memorable point he had been trying to make to the...somewhat...immoral scientist who as far as Hammond could tell, didn't even SEE the dinosaurs as anything other than a groundbreaking achievement in science he could attribute to his name. He barely even interacted with the creatures once they were hatched.

A fact Harry had noticed and was trying to correct.

He did manage one thing...Wu wouldn't take the velociraptor infants lightly again.

Harry had gone over the raptor paddock, inspecting it with a critical eye while Talon kept the ones inside busy by establishing dominance. Temporarily at least.

The game warden Hammond hired liked the kid immediately, because he pointed out flaws they hadn't taken into account...such as the fact that there was a very strong chance of the raptors escaping if they got the presence of mind to ram the gate that lead into the paddock from inside the transport cage. Having Talon 'demonstrate' that fact had made most of the men hired think twice about approaching the cages again until Hammond put up safety precautions.

For example, he added gates that were similar to the ones they used to corral bulls. Once the cage was in place, they would slide a heavy bar across the back of it, making it much, much harder for the raptors to ram into the opening and cause it to slide loose.

And as Hammond liked to say 'spare no expense' the gates could be lowered when not in use.

Sure it was a bit expensive, but when compared to the safety of the workers...it was cheaper than the lawsuit and eventual inspection by the lawyers and whoever they could scrounge up.

Another change that was made was to the Tyrannosaur paddock.

If there was a power outage and the back-up generator failed, then there was literally NOTHING standing between the several ton Tyrant Lizard and the people in the cars. A T-Rex could go through those electric fences like it was nothing.

While it was perfectly acceptable for the herbivores, the meat eaters were far more dangerous and had to be treated appropriately.

What Hammond liked about the boy most was the fact that he respected the dinosaurs for what they were, but at the same time kept his common sense about them and the danger they possessed.

Which was why he was honestly considering leaving iNGen...or at least the parts that didn't deal with the military, to Harry. As long as the boy continued to display the same common sense about the dinosaurs he had on their first meeting.

Hammond was confident that Harry could be his 'heir' to Jurassic Park and the dream that created it. After all...he had trained a velociraptor to be his partner and establish dominance.

* * *

"How was your Christmas Harry?" asked Hermione pleasantly.

"It was great! Apparently my grandfather has started this special kind of zoo. It's not open yet, since he's still getting the permits and has to get the animals old enough to handle visitors, but I did get a few cool souvenirs out of the deal!"

"Like what?"

"Check it out! Authentic amber with actual dinosaur DNA!"

It was actually the amber which had created Talon, according to Hammond. He thought it appropriate that Harry have it since he had more or less raised Talon, and they had already extracted the DNA from the fossilized mosquito anyway.

"That's...interesting..." said Hermione, maintaining her fake smile. What was with all the dinosaur obsessed idiots in her school anyway? Who cared about long dead animals?

Harry kept the real fun from his 'friend'. That Hammond had not only given him the amber Talon came from, but another dinosaur egg to see if he could 'replicate' what he had done with Talon, including the training.

After seeing how devastatingly intelligent the raptors were, Hammond was beefing up all the security around the paddocks and making sure that they documented any odd quirks they had so they could cut them off before they escaped.

Talon was _barely_ safe to be around, and that was only if Harry was present. Taking her for granted had almost lead to the mauling of Doctor Wu when he mistakenly believed her to be tame.

To be fair, Harry had made it very, very clear that when Talon didn't like someone then she made it obvious.

Usually by trying to bite their hands off or something. At least she didn't have any Komodo Dragon DNA in her...that would be impossible to treat.

Wu made a point in keeping three tables between him and Talon after she nearly bit his left hand off because he had been stupid enough to put his back to her.

No one blamed Harry...they all blamed Wu for being complacent around her.

Harry had at least learned how to HATCH a velociraptor egg...though they were all curious if the same techniques could be applied to a T-Rex.

Harry wasn't going to take that chance unless he was absolutely sure that he wasn't about to be eaten. The lone T-Rex at the park was only half-grown, but she was mean as hell and twice as ornery. He never wanted to mess with her without having something he was positive was T-Rex proof within running distance.

Which, considering a T-Rex could ram into anything above ground with very little trouble (especially if they had gained sufficient speed), meant it had better be underground and heavily fortified.

When he had mentioned that to Hammond, the old man had looked speculative and had agreed that having clearly marked underground bunkers in the event the Tyrannosaur got loose deep enough that digging it out would fairly reasonable.

A T-Rex wasn't designed for digging it's prey out, and there was always the risk of someone falling if it rammed it's head against a tree and caused it to shake enough. Underground bunkers were a good way to keep visitors and personnel safe.

And while Harry did like the signs, he pointed out that a good hit by one of the vehicles would render them useless. Having some tape that showed where the trail was with clearly marked indicators (like white for safe areas, and red and white striped ones that lead to danger zones like the dinosaur areas) were easy enough to install.

In fact Harry had quite a few small ideas Hammond could easily implement to keep safety a priority at the park.

While he didn't exactly agree with some of the ideas Hammond had, he did agree that it was an idea that was worth trying.

If only because he could completely see where Hammond was coming from.

Hammond seemed to love him because they shared an equal enthusiasm for the dinosaurs and instead of using them as weapons, they wanted to show the world something new and exciting.

Robert Muldoon, the game warden Hammond hired from Kenya, liked Harry because he was sensible, respected them as the dangerous predators they were, and had a good head on his shoulders and had taken a genuine interest in the dinosaurs. The fact he had successfully managed to train Talon well enough to take commands in Morse Code was a major bonus.

He had been the _only_ person in that park who treated Talon with the respect she deserved.

A proper appreciation for not just the claws and teeth, but for the mind within.

Still, Harry was going to brush up on his computer skills...that idiot Dennis gave him a bad feeling. Like he was someone who could be paid to put in 'bugs' so people could steal the dinosaurs.

Harry paused.

 _Actually I could just look up who the best programmer in the world is and when I go to do another inspection I could bring them along as a 'friend' to check the systems. That fat pig reminds me of Dudley, only smarter..._ thought Harry.

He didn't care if he had to befriend a computer nerd. Dennis didn't exactly give him confidence in his skills and he reminded Harry far too much of Dudley for his tastes.

Hermione had clearly lost interest the second she realized Harry was going to go on and on about dinosaurs, and since Ron had never seen one he had no interest either.

The only one Harry could confidently call his 'friend' at this point was Luna...and surprisingly his fan boy Colin. Fortunately Colin was as big a dinosaur nut as Harry himself, so it was pathetically easy to redirect the boy's enthusiasm for photography into helping Harry catalog everything Talon did so when the truth came out about the park, they could write a book with full documentation.

* * *

As the days turned into months, Hermione got a rather...unpleasant surprise when she found the _newest_ addition to the pen. Another 'raptor' as Harry insisted on calling it.

Hermione had looked up birds of prey, trying to find Talon anywhere, but there wasn't a SINGLE article about the animal.

So either Harry was lying or she wasn't looking hard enough.

"Harry...where did you get this?"

"Found another egg. It's not one of Talon's though," he added quickly, before he cooed at the deceptively cute monstrosity. The infant chirped like Talon had and responded in an adorable way whenever Harry brought out his hand-held clicking toy.

If she hadn't had personal experience with the adult version, she would have thought it adorable. Unfortunately Talon told her all she needed to know about the animal.

"And what are you going to call this latest nightmare?" she asked tiredly.

"Sickle."

Hermione had to ask.

"Why 'sickle'?" she asked tiredly.

"Because it's a small handled farming tool that's meant to cut. If I find a third one I'll name it Scythe."

"Harry, Talon was enough of a menace!"

"I already have the paperwork drawn up with the Ministry. All those feral cats aren't going to know what hit them..." chuckled Harry evilly.

Hermione stared at him in horror.

"You've been feeding them _cats_?!"

"FERAL cats. In case you haven't noticed, Talon doesn't go near the castle and while we're at Hogwarts she mostly sticks to the acromantula colony...and the teachers haven't exactly told me I couldn't let her hunt them. Hagrid only asked I leave the oldest spider Aragog alone. Even the centaurs don't complain about Talon going after their nest."

"And outside?" she asked, pinching her nose.

"One of my neighbors has like, ten cats and none of them were fixed. Most of them are male, and she doesn't keep them inside like she should. My aunt barely tolerates her because she used to babysit me, and the entire neighborhood isn't going to ask where the ferals are disappearing too so long as they're gone. Have you ever _heard_ a bunch of feral cats fighting?"

That, sadly, didn't calm Hermione down.

"Harry...what about McGonagall?"

"Talon says she smells weird, so she avoids her," said Harry immediately. Which hadn't really gone over well with the woman, but it wasn't his fault she had an off scent.

Hell, Talon said _Scabbers_ smelled weird.

Though Ron hadn't been happy when he found out what Harry had done to keep his pet rat from shitting on his pillows again.

Sickle chirped before she pounced on something. It turned out to be a bowtruckle, according to Kettleburn. He was retiring at the end of the year and planning to suggest Hagrid as his replacement.

Mostly because he didn't think any rookie teachers could handle Talon's unending gaze that seemed to say "You're my next meal" without suffering a nervous breakdown.

Especially since Harry had gotten a _second_ one.

Harry's policy on the animals in the forest was if it wasn't fast enough or smart enough to avoid Talon, it wasn't his problem.

Besides he was just happy Sickle had started to understand Talon was the Beta, and that he was the Alpha. Already her eyes were beginning to change color from a disturbing red to a brilliant green.

He would wait until she was a bit older before he taught her Morse code like he had Talon. Sickle had gotten the 'click-click' sound meant pay attention, and was already learning how to tap her retractable claw on hard things to make the responding click-click sound back. And while he could _somewhat_ figure out what they were saying using their own language, it never hurt to have a universal back-up.

At least it gave any humans a fighting chance to know what they were saying.

"So are we going to have more Ministry officials visiting again?" she asked resigned.

"Susan said her aunt was going to do the inspection so she could gauge the reactions of the students and to spend some time with her niece," said Harry.

"Susan?"

"Bones, in Hufflepuff. Her aunt's head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."

She was also bringing a friend with her to administer the exam to insure it wasn't a magical animal. However it would be the friend who would accidentally spawn an investigation of the school.

Her friend was an unregistered Animagus.

* * *

Talon took one whiff of the second human, and made a series of clicks immediately. Harry frowned, before he took out his clicking toy to respond. More clicks.

"Madam Bones, is there any reason why Talon is telling me that your friend 'smells funny'? Like animal but not?"

Amelia Bones frowned.

"What do you mean 'smells funny'?"

Harry asked. His frown deepened.

"She said that he 'smells like stern furry prey'... Oh, she means McGonagall."

"'Stern furry prey?'" repeated Bones amused.

"I've been letting her decimate the feral cat population when I go home for holidays. None of the neighbors have complained...in fact they're happy the cats are gone."

Amelia Bones drew the same conclusion Hermione had.

"What about the cats in the castle?"

"Talon knows that the 'cold nest' is off-limits, along with the 'loud nests'. She sticks to the forest and the borders of the lake. She's been pretty much decimating the acromantula colony in the forest."

"So you're telling me Healer Dayes 'smells funny' like McGonagall?" she asked, deciding for the sake of her migraine not to ask.

"And Scabbers."

"Who or what is Scabbers?"

"Ron Weasley's pet rat. I brought him to see Talon and made it clear if he used my bed as a bathroom again I'd feed him to her. That's when Talon told me he had the same 'funny smell' as McGonagall."

Amelia had to see what was going on. So she got McGonagall and had Harry bring "Scabbers"...but unlike Ron he brought a cage that was firmly locked. He didn't want to be bitten.

Talon sniffed each of them...before 'telling' Harry they all had the same prey-NOT-prey scent.

The only thing she could think of that McGonagall and Dayes had in common...was that they were animagi.

So when she cast the animagus revealing charm, she came up with one too many. And the extra was _Scabbers._

Harry's innocent reminder that the rat had lived in the same room as an underage _pure blood_ boy twice did not go over well. Madam Bones confiscated the rat and cast several charms to insure he didn't escape. McGonagall had the unpleasant task of informing the Weasleys of the issue, and that they were entirely blameless as none of them had suspected Scabbers was anything but a long-lived rat.

Harry got his forms signed with all the "I's" dotted and the "T's" crossed properly.

All in all, a quiet year.


	6. Chapter 6

One more summer.

That was Harry's new mantra since his innocent comment had gotten "Scabbers" arrested and forcibly dosed with veritaserum the second he came out of his animal form.

Coincidentally this made it impossible for the apparently ALIVE Peter Pettigrew to hide the fact he had essentially sent one of his closest friends to prison.

Harry _would_ have gone to live with the other member of the "Marauders", except the man was a werewolf.

Even with the 'protection' of his two familiars, he'd had to chose between staying with the Durselys one more summer while the paperwork cleared, or possibly losing the ability to have both velociraptors at Hogwarts.

He'd put up with the Dursleys for eleven long years. He could handle one more summer.

He might have rethought that idea had he known MARGE was coming. Fortunately he had a way of dealing with the bitch he had been forced to call "aunt" since his first meeting with her.

He really, really hoped her dog Ripper was joining her. It was payback time for when he was seven and that damn thing chased him up a tree!

Good thing he didn't have to worry about not being able to visit Hogsmeade. Dumbledore had accepted Sirius Black's permission in lieu of Petunia's.

The only reason Harry wasn't living with the man right now was because he had to undergo a full year of intensive therapy and healing sessions for dementor exposure. All at the Ministry's expense, along with a lucrative payment to keep quiet about the fact he never got a trial.

Harry couldn't wait to see the man's reaction to Talon and Sickle.

* * *

Marge Dursley was as horrid as ever. Harry managed to hide his grin the moment he saw that damn bulldog of hers. He kept his head down and his plans quiet until the last night.

It took little planning to wait until Marge was good and drunk before he managed to get Ripper ready for another round of 'chase Harry up the tree'.

She was too stupid to realize there was a reason why Vernon and Petunia had been both worried and relieved that Marge was visiting.

Relieved, because they honestly thought Harry had forgotten about being treed for twelve long hours when he was seven and that he now had little reason not to get payback since he had told them this was their last summer together because his Godfather had been 'found'.

And worried, because they didn't want Marge to learn about magic and Harry had introduced them to his new 'pet' Sickle. She wasn't very big, but the fact she looked like a smaller version of Talon that was rapidly getting bigger every week was enough to worry them.

Coincidentally Mrs. Figg had started keeping her cats indoors after last summer. She didn't want her precious 'babies' to be mistaken as dinner to whatever almost wiped out the feral cat population.

And with the addition of Sickle, the feral pet population that wasn't _rescued_ by animal control had more or less whittled down to nothing.

It was probably a very good thing Harry was leaving after this year, otherwise people might draw conclusions that he was the culprit.

Harry was doing dishes, just waiting for the odorous hag to say something to set him off.

And wouldn't you know it, the woman HAD to go after his parents. His fragile control over his patience snapped.

Unseen by Petunia or Vernon, Harry slipped his hand into his pocket where he kept the clicking toy.

When he pulled it out, they froze, horrified.

A single snap of the fingers released Talon and Sickle. They appeared from the dog house that was never used outside, and stood at alert.

Marge, with her back to the outside, didn't see them.

Ripper, however, smelled them and immediately started whimpering. He knew a predator when he smelled one.

Harry's voice was perfectly calm and reasonable.

"Did you know _Aunt_ Marge, that in the time since you've been here I've...acquired...some new pets?" he said perfectly calm. His eyes were blazing with absolute rage.

Talon and Sickle could sense his fury, because they were looking particularly bloodthirsty.

Following his line of sight, and finally seeing exactly what the others did, Marge dropped her wine glass...which was more of a measuring cup than a proper wine glass. The liquid splashed onto the floor as the glass shattered.

"Meet my new friends. Talon, Sickle, meet dinner," he stated succinctly.

The low growls brought up primal memories of being hunted. Marge couldn't quite stand up fast enough, and the chair buckled under her weight.

That was all it took for Ripper. He bolted, tail between his legs.

Harry's best raptor growl had Sickle chasing the dog. The pained yelp from the living room paid testament to his fate. As did the messy sounds of Sickle eating the damn thing. Talon kept the Dursleys pinned while Harry left the room, got his things and slid his wand into his holster on his leg that had been a gift from Hermione last year.

That done, he sent both raptors back to their 'home' and collected it. No one would believe the Dursleys about what they saw, and by the time anyone DID, it would be far too late.

Harry was long gone by the time the cops showed up.

Good thing Remus was still a viable option and had given him the address of his home. Sirius was staying at a magical hotel, all expenses paid, until his treatment was over.

When Harry bothered to look up the fate of Marge, she was in a sanatorium and her entire kennel had to be euthanize because they were too vicious to be released. All the cops knew was that her dog had run afoul of the thing killing the feral cats in the neighborhood, and the alcohol in her system had come up with some exaggerated idea of what it had been.

Couldn't happen to a nicer person. She should be happy he hadn't told the raptors to eat HER.

* * *

When Remus first heard of Harry's familiars, he thought they had been over-exaggerating their intelligence. Sure, there was some feedback from the familiar bond that made animals somewhat more intelligent, but not to the extent where Harry had confidently claimed they were 'smarter than over half his year'.

Oh how Remus now wished he had taken the boy seriously.

Talon and Sickle were more intelligent than any other animal he had met, and Harry seemed to be the only person in the castle who knew exactly what they were down to their scientific genus.

That the boy had compounded the reality that they were in fact a mundane animal by dragging Remus to the museum and showing him the exhibit on dinosaurs hadn't helped.

Finding out some muggle had been insane enough to _create_ the animals from long-dead blood had been somewhat horrifying. He might have been more interested if Harry hadn't acquired a pair of the most vicious, highly intelligent dinosaurs in existence.

He was just glad that Talon and Sickle had sniffed him all over before 'informing' Harry they wouldn't eat him because he smelled of 'bad meat'. Considering they didn't eat other werewolves in the forest for the same reason, Remus was pretty relieved.

His inner wolf instinctively knew these two were at the top of the predator food chain, and that as long as he didn't attack them they'd leave him be.

It was nice to know that Harry had something to keep him safe during the full moons. Moony wouldn't go near the boy as long as he had Talon or Sickle out.

So in order to distract himself from their presence, Remus decided to start brewing some potions. Namely the animagus potion.

Harry wanted to share it with some of his friends, namely a pair of second years named Colin and Luna. He would have shared it with Hermione and Ron, but Ron was lazy and not likely to put in the work to learn how to transform...and Hermione was such a goody-two-shoes that he was afraid she'd bust them to McGonagall and they'd have to register.

Personally Harry was hoping that he'd get a raptor as his animal form, so he could run as a proper Alpha to his growing pack.

He highly suspected Luna would become either a Wrackspurt...or a duck-billed platypus. She was an odd girl.

And Colin had to be a hummingbird. He fluttered around too much to be anything else.

* * *

Harry was very excited. He was about to publish an article on Velociraptors to the scientific community for the first time. All with plenty of references that could be backed up and enough research that people might take it seriously.

He made sure it was all written as speculation, not first-hand experience. He would have included Colin's photos, but he wanted to be a bit more well known as a junior paleontologist first before he added those.

Colin didn't mind, because Harry had promised to name him as the chief photographer.

Harry had suggested Colin try for a career in photojournalism.

He waited patiently for weeks to get a reply back.

Then he got a letter from the postman.

" _Dear Mr. Potter..._

 _We are pleased to inform you that your thesis on the behavioral patterns of velociraptors..."_

"YES!"

"What?" asked Remus.

"My paper, it was published in one of the scientific journals that specialize in paleontology. It said they had another paleontologist look over my work and he agrees that most of it fits in with what little is known about raptors."

"And that's a good thing?"

"It means I just took a big, big step to being a recognized authority in dinosaurs. And it means I've completed the summer courses in paleontology. The last assignment was to get a paper published in my name. I'm one of the few that bothered to complete the course."

"...Okay?"

"It means I get work-study credit and a boost for when I apply to the university and gives me a leg up for joining a team already at a dig for dinosaur bones," explained Harry.

Ever since he got Talon as a familiar, Harry's love for all things dinosaur had only grown. So much so that he decided to learn everything he could about the creatures from their past, before he bothered to study the ones in the park.

Hence why he was taking classes over the summer and through the school year on paleontology and submitting papers.

Originally it was so he could care for Talon (and now Sickle) but after seeing Hermione's reaction to the two he had hopes that learning he was a scientist on the subject when she FINALLY found out what they were would keep her from butting in.

She was freaked out enough by the two raptors that the idea she would 'hand them over' to some government scientist in an effort to get them away from him or far, far from her wasn't a far stretch. Considering how she looked at them, he thought it pretty damn likely it _would_ happen the moment she learned what they were. The only thing that would keep her from doing so was the fact no one would take her seriously until Hammond's experiments became much more well known.

As far as she and most of the magical society was concerned, they were two non-magical lizard-like creatures that just _happened_ to resemble raptors a little too much. The fact that neither of them were pure raptor to begin with didn't help either.

Included in the letter was the address of Dr. Grant, a known fan of the species.

When Harry wrote to him, he seemed particularly pleased with the way Harry compared raptors to larger known predators like tigers and how humans might underestimate a raptor's intelligence simply because it was an animal.

He wondered how Dr. Grant would react to Talon and Sickle. The only thing that kept him from considering the idea was the fact that he was afraid Grant would try to have them taken.

Besides, it would ruin Hammond's surprise to the world.

"Well Harry, the potion's almost done. Are you sure you want to bring Luna into this?"

"I trust her a lot more than I do Hermione at this point. Hermione's got her head stuck so far into books that she can't see the obvious, and is anal retentive besides. She's also far, far too trusting of authority figures. It's just luck she hadn't been singled out by Lockhart last year...either that or she wasn't his type," shuddered Harry.

Remus winced at the reminder. Gilderoy Lockhart had been arrested by Madam Bones last year during the inspection of Sickle that revealed Pettigrew was alive. Several of the older girls approached her with Madam Pomphrey about having large chunks of memory missing, and had tested positive for certain potions.

An inspection of Lockhart's things revealed illegal potions and the man's diary, in which he explained how he had stolen the credit of other witches and wizards of their accomplishments.

Needless to say he was in a lot of hot water.

Remus had been hired because Dumbledore trusted him...and because Snape heard by accident how Talon and Sickle scared the shit out of his werewolf side. He could put up with those two headaches as long as Harry used them to scare Remus and keep them from his students.

Well...that and at least Remus knew the raptors wouldn't eat him.

"Surely it's not that bad."

Harry turned to look at Remus.

"Hermione has her head screwed on so tight that even when I told her what Talon was, down to the family and genus, she couldn't figure out what species she was. Hell, her family took her to the Natural History Museum where they HAVE dinosaur bones and a rough mock-up of velociraptors on display and she was more interested in the World War Two exhibit! She hasn't even realized there's a connection with the sudden dinosaur obsession in the students and Talon!"

Remus winced. When he put it like that...

"And the only reason I haven't clued her in is because I _know_ she'll do everything in her power to be rid of Talon and Sickle, despite the fact they're my registered familiars and thus considered _my_ property. Even if I've done everything in my power to keep them safely contained away from human settlements. She thinks she's always in the right, and I have proof."

"What proof?"

"I told her about Dobby, even introduced her to the house elves, and suddenly she's gotten it in her head that they're enslaved and in need of being 'freed', despite the fact there's a reason for the system and that Dobby is an isolated case."

That wince came back twice as strong. A muggleborn trying to free house elves? That would never go over well, especially since she evidently never bothered to get the full story and might refuse to listen to reason.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Special props to:**_

 _tsurarakage  
Shadow Mercer 99  
denis.d2505  
Cormin12  
reckless13  
Colshan  
DragonBorn Childe  
JasminSky (thought it was too obvious)  
Jck  
Son of Thanatos 64  
Fire of the Void  
Spike Trap  
alkkhes_

 ** _For guessing Harry's animagus form early! Also, Hermione DOES get clued in to what Talon and Sickle are in chapter 9. I may or may not do a double update today!_**

* * *

Harry, Luna and an eager Colin were waiting for Remus to dole out the potion. Colin's younger brother Dennis turned out to be another muggleborn, so he would be joining the school this year. Like Colin, he had fallen instantly in love with Talon and Sickle. Unlike his brother, Dennis would have to wait two years before he could safely attempt to become an animagus.

Harry was hoping he turned into a raptor. As the oldest, he downed the potion first to make sure it was safe.

And as an extra precaution, they were all outside and near a lake in case one of them was aquatic.

A few seconds after drinking it, he started to change. His skin became leathery, almost hard. His spinal column elongated and grew a tail that could break bones. His feet became sharp, full of talons including a familiar claw that retracted. His mouth became full of razor sharp teeth...and became big enough to comfortably take a bite out of cows and horses. The eyes went to the side, and became slit. His hands became claws that were just barely able to extend past his head. And he developed a pattern on his skin that made him a very, very efficient hunter able to hide in plain sight.

He had thought he was going to be a raptor. Instead he seemed to be a cross between a velociraptor and a tyrannosaurus rex.

He let out a might roar after Colin took a picture with his camera, before he abruptly dropped.

His grin, however, spoke volumes.

"Yes! I turned into a dinosaur! Best animal form EVER!" said Harry excitedly.

Remus, however, was pale. Whatever Harry turned into was something he didn't want to run into anytime soon.

"What kind was that?" asked Dennis excited. He had all the enthusiasm of Colin with the mental image of an excited puppy when you looked at him.

"Indominus Rex," said Luna dreamily.

Harry looked at her.

"You sure?"

"That's what that particular crossbreed will be called. The unholy love child of a T-Rex and a Raptor."

"Sweet...all the stopping power of a Rex and the intelligence of a... Oh dear god, who the hell thought that was a good idea?" said Harry after he thought that one through. Either species was bad enough on it's own.

Combining them was just _asking_ for something bad to happen. T-Rex was big and powerful, but it wasn't very smart and tracked by movement and light. Velociraptors were small, but intelligent enough to figure out doors and extremely vicious...they occasionally went after prey even when they weren't hungry.

Putting both of those characteristics together and you'd have a large, intelligent, absolutely vicious killing machine.

Thank magic such a combination wasn't possible in the wild. Then again with how flippant Henry Wu was with his creations, there was always the chance he'd try it just to see if he could.

He'd have to make sure no one was ever stupid enough to suggest it...or worse, give him adequate funding for such a project. That way only lead to nightmares.

"Me next!" said an eager Luna.

Harry had to choke back a laugh when he saw what she turned into.

Colin dutifully took a picture, and Luna looked at them expectantly.

"You fit the basic description you gave of a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. You know what this means don't you?"

"What does it mean?" asked Remus.

"It means she gets to rub it in Hermione's face that she was right all along, because the only way Luna could turn into one is if it actually exists."

Luna beamed...and looked slightly evil. Payback was going to be a _bitch_ once Hermione found out that Luna wasn't lying about their existence.

"Colin, you're up and I'll take your picture," said Harry.

Colin took the potion...and promptly turned into a Jack Russel Terrier with bright button eyes and an insatiable curiosity. Remus choked back a laugh.

Then he gave the children hand-written books by the Marauders themselves...and saved two extra vials of potion so Harry could hand it to the twins later.

Anyone who had the Marauders Map and had been driving McGonagall up the wall since first year was Marauder material, and who was Remus to judge if they just _happened_ to get vials of animagus potion to play with? Or if Harry dropped them some ideas to put into use next year?

Either way he would throw out pointers to Harry on how to turn into whatever the hell he was (apparently Harry was of the opinion that he was the unholy love child of something that SHOULD NOT BE CONCIEVED) and hope that when the truth came out no one pointed at Remus for the reason why he knew how to turn into whatever-it-was.

Though the fact that Harry _could_ turn into it was proof enough that eventually someone would be stupid enough to try. And would succeed.

Harry just hoped like hell they could contain this...Indominus Rex in the event it _was_ created and keep it the hell away from humans. And that he would be allowed to kick whoever had made it in the balls for being such an idiot.

* * *

Talon and Sickle had an...interesting...reaction to Harry's animagus form.

They sniffed him...and then started making their general warbling sound that they used to 'talk'.

Only this time...this time Harry understood them perfectly. A perk of having a half-raptor animal form.

Which meant Harry had a damn good reason to master his new form properly.

Harry did find a rather...odd...perk to his animagus form. Because it was the combination of two dinosaurs, he could theoretically figure out how to split the two apart and become both of the original dinosaurs.

Much to the shock of Remus, it took Harry less than a week to figure out how to split his animagus form into two...or at least master the velociraptor aspect.

Considering how much time he spent with his two raptors, and the amount of work he did studying them and their physiology, it mostly took time learning how to push his magic and cause the change.

He was pleased to find out that he could turn into a full raptor and not a baby one. As the lone 'male' of the trio, it meant they followed him as the "Alpha Male".

He did make a point to avoid the two when they were in heat though. He didn't want to accidentally breed with them because he couldn't keep it in his pants.

At least not unless he planned on living on the island with the rest of the dinosaurs full time.

It still freaked Remus out watching Harry literally jump on some poor animal (like deer or the odd goat) and rip it's intestines out with extreme fervor and unholy glee.

When asked why he insisted on being a 'messy eater' in human form, Harry innocently replied "I'm getting into practice for the school year. That acromantula colony in the forest won't know what hit them."

The evil chuckle he let out after saying this with a straight face absolutely didn't belong there.

* * *

Harry's way of greeting the students on the platform (and shortly after 'registering' his animagus form...one of them anyway) was to scare the shit out of Hermione, Ron...pretty much everyone there.

He turned into a T-Rex and roared loudly before stomping down the platform.

Hermione nearly had a heart attack. Then she saw fit to try and hex the unrepentant grinning Potter black and blue for the shock.

Sirius, once he got over his wince at the loud roar, was cracking up while Remus shook his head.

He was given a temporary pass in visiting his godson and when Harry mentioned his prank he insisted on being there to see the chaos it would cause. Or the one Harry guaranteed would happen once the wizards got a good look at his 'animagus' form.

The fact he was having trouble with the original form was a minor issue. He still had the other halves to play with until he figured out how to pull it off.

"Harry James Potter, that was entirely uncalled for!"

"That was..." started George.

"Bloody brilliant!" finished Fred.

"The laughing loon known as Padfoot certainly thought it was," said Harry grinning.

The twins suddenly had stars in their eyes.

"That's Padfoot?" said George.

"And the tragically fashion-deprived man with far too much gray in his hair is our Defense teacher...and coincidentally is also Moony. I have it on good authority he plans to threaten you with feeding Talon, Sickle and the soon-to-be-named third one that'll be showing up sooner or later. Depends on when it hatches."

"Harry! Don't tell me you went and found another one of bloody monsters!" said Hermione horrified. One was bad, two was terrifying...three was far too many.

"Of course I didn't find another raptor. Finding two was hard enough! This one found me," said Harry cheerfully.

He spent a lot of time with Luna, so playing with the bookish Hermione and driving her up the wall had become a favorite past time.

"Bloody hell. What was that thing anyway Harry?" asked Ron.

"Tyrannosaurus Rex, from the Greek word turannos meaning tyrant, and the Latin word sauros, meaning lizard. From the family Tyrannosauridae, infraorder Carnosauria. It's also called 'T-Rex', or 'Tyrant King'. It's one of the most recognized dinosaurs in existence," said Harry without a second's hesitation.

Hermione and Ron stared.

"What? It's not my fault most people don't bother to read paleontology books, let alone the journals. I'm really, really waiting for the next issue of _Paleo Weekly_ to come out."

"You and those bloody dinosaurs," said Hermione in disgust.

Harry grinned at her. If she didn't care about dinosaurs, then he wasn't going to care about her endless frustration at the fact that she couldn't figure out what Talon was.

Up and down the train, Harry got a few people who laughed and thanked him for the surprise, and a few curious kids who were eager to learn if he planned to take his new T-Rex side out for a run. Those that asked that question got a laugh from Harry and the promise that when he did, they'd be the first to take a ride on a T-Rex. And that if they did good in class (or made him laugh hard enough with a good prank) he'd introduce them to his two raptors. The fact that Talon and Sickle were walking behind him made them very, very eager to spread some chaos or do better in class. Especially the boys.

Once again, Malfoy wisely avoided Harry the moment he heard the familiar click-click-click of the raptor's claws on the floor outside the compartment.

Talon and Sickle had made it abundantly clear how they viewed Draco. He was prey, and the second Harry let them loose they would hunt him down and rip him to shreds.

Once again, Hermione avoided him and his girls the moment he let them out.

Not his fault she was second-best when it came to actual intelligence with both raptors around.

Harry paused in reading his books.

 _Huh...maybe that's why Hermione hates them. She doesn't like being outdone by a pair of raptors..._ thought Harry evilly.

He mentally shook his head and repeated his new mantra.

Not my problem.

He had actually studied on how to create that phrase without a wand, in multiple languages...to the open amusement of Sirius and Remus.

As long as people left his raptors alone, and he wasn't required to keep them on a short leash, then it wasn't his problem.

* * *

It took roughly three-point-five days before Hermione snapped.

At Harry for causing yet another year of her having to listen to _dinosaurs_. It was worse than Quidditch.

Harry patiently listened to her rant...and then when she was done he did something he should have ages ago.

He cut their friendship down to 'acquaintance' level.

"Hermione, did it _ever_ occur to you that maybe kids our age need something OTHER than schoolwork to enjoy? That maybe they chose learning about dinosaurs as a distraction from the boredom that is school?"

Hermione bristled, as she prided herself on being a good student.

Sadly Harry wasn't afraid to stomp on that pride by reminding her that according to the unofficial rankings among the students, he was at the top of their year while she was third. The second being Neville Longbottom, who felt he might as well make up for his lack in practical skills with his written work.

Harry planned to introduce him to the subject of paleontology which was the study of fossils of animals and plants. Considering Neville's love of herbology, he might enjoy learning about the extinct breeds.

"Let's face it Hermione. Until you learn to relax and let go of your anal retentive side, you're never going to get very far in life."


	8. Chapter 8

The ripples of putting Hermione firmly in the 'acquaintance' column of his friends surprisingly had little impact on the school. Then again the twins had been making discreet bets how long it took before Harry's patience snapped.

Hermione was firmly stuck with her head in books, and didn't see the obvious.

And it wouldn't be until Christmas that she got a rude wake-up call.

Though it was the teachers who got the biggest shock.

Seeing several of the younger years riding a massive beast who's roar could shake the souls of the teachers had been a real surprise. At least, until they found out it was just Harry's animagus form.

McGonagall knew how difficult it was for people to control their animal instincts. She still had trouble acting _normally_ around catnip. So it was only natural she'd be concerned about Harry's mental state, having such a large carnivore for his form.

Outside of eating his meat a little rare, there wasn't any outward changes.

It took her weeks to realize the change was internal...specifically his mind.

Harry's grades went from the top ten to the top five, beating even Granger's scores. It wasn't that he was studying harder...it was that his mind was naturally filtering out useless information at an accelerated rate and storing it for later.

That wasn't the only thing though...his awareness of his surroundings had shot up considerably. He didn't even need to look to know when someone was behind him, though his ability to figure out who before they revealed themselves still needed a lot of work.

Had McGonagall known exactly _what_ Harry's true animagus form was, she would have been terrified.

Harry was slowly but surely leaving humanity in the dust and becoming an apex predator.

* * *

The centaurs knew the truth behind the sudden devastation in the larger spiders. They were just relieved Harry upheld the unspoken truce between them. After all, he would only be there for four more years before leaving, and they wouldn't have to worry about such things again.

Compared to the Indominus Rex, the larger Acromantula were nothing. Their fangs couldn't even pierce his hide.

He had a lot of fun playing around with his camouflage ability. And the fact he could see infra-red meant it was pretty damn hard to hide from him.

It was a lot of fun scaring the hell out of the twins.

The fact Fred pissed himself when he casually grabbed the red head from the back of his shirt and lifted him straight up had been hilarious. And George was too busy trying to find something to aim at to help, for fear of hitting his brother.

Wizards really did trade magic for common sense. Something Harry cheerfully informed them when he pointed out that George _could_ have hit him with something like a stunner in the general area underneath his brother without worrying for Fred's safety. If he had, he would have hit Harry pretty easily instead of looking like a chicken with his head cut off.

George tried to hex him anyway for pointing that out...and Fred was quick to join him when Harry also pointed out he smelled something from Fred's pants.

Apparently he hadn't _just_ pissed his pants from fear.

"That was evil," said Fred.

"Uncalled for."

"And absolutely..." said Fred, his annoyance and embarrassment fading into something far more familiar.

"Brilliant!" they said in unison.

"Just wait... I plan on doing something similar to Malfoy soon."

"Nice."

"Tell us when so we can take multiple pictures."

Harry grinned evilly.

"Next week sound good to you?"

"I think we can rope it into our schedules," grinned the twins.

* * *

It started with a rumble in the ground. It had taken some careful maneuvering to get Malfoy in place for the prank, but it would totally be worth it if he could get the bastard to shit himself like Fred had. Pools of water around the lake began to ripple and turn muddy.

Contrary to what people might think, most simply ignored the rumblings. Obviously Potter was playing with his new animal form again.

That all changed when the rumbling got louder and more frequent. Malfoy actually panicked when the massive form of Potter came crashing through the trees, and his natural instincts of flight or fight kicked in without any input from him.

Seeing something that big, full of sharp teeth, coming full barrel towards you with clear intent to do _something_ that would just ruin your day... yeah, it was little wonder Malfoy booked like the hounds of hell were after him.

Considering an adult T-Rex had been clocked at thirty miles an hour minimum, and Harry's legs were considerably longer than Malfoy's, it took little time for the massive beast to catch up.

Once he did, he reached down with his teeth and shook Malfoy lightly much like a dog would a toy. Malfoy was still screaming when Harry dumped him into the cold lake.

The twins were quick to high five Harry the moment he turned back.

"Absolutely worth any detention they give me," said Harry.

"Potter you..." snarled Malfoy, dripping wet.

"Considering you soiled yourself thanks to my prank, you should be thanking me for giving you an excuse for why your pants are soaking wet."

Malfoy growled, before stomping back to the castle to change his clothes.

"Send the pictures to Padfoot and the others and ask them for a critique of how well we did," said Harry.

Not only did they get full marks from Sirius, but Remus had been openly amused.

Especially when they shared the pictures.

"So what brought this on?"

"Pranked the twins last week while they were out getting venom from the spiders that the raptor pack took out."

"What could you possibly need all that venom for anyway?" asked Remus to the twins.

"We keep some of it, but most of it we sell," said George shrugging.

"It means we'll be able to start our joke shop that much sooner, and it helps us to pay Harry off faster."

"'Pay Harry off?'" repeated Remus.

"I loaned the Weasleys about two hundred galleons, and in exchange they've been paying me off bit by bit whenever they have the chance."

"I'm surprised Molly hasn't tried to draft a marriage contract yet."

That would be the quickest and most efficient way to pay off a debt.

Harry grimaced.

"Ten seconds around Talon and Sickle, and she made it clear she wanted nothing to do with me as long as they're my familiars. Besides, I made sure to tell Arthur Weasley that I wasn't going to marry anyone until _after_ I left Hogwarts. I'd rather not do the stupid thing and marry someone right out of school."

Anyone that didn't like his raptors wouldn't make the cut. And out of the entire school only Luna managed to get within ten feet of them without either of them wanting to maul her.

Strangely enough, they tended to 'escort' her around the forest. Harry really didn't want to know.

* * *

 _Peter Pettigrew Escapes Azkaban!_

Harry growled under his breath. But he cheered up due to one simple fact.

No way in hell was the rat coming anywhere near him while Talon and Sickle were around.

"Hey look, another letter for you Harry. Who's your pen pal?" asked Fred.

"A fellow fan of dinosaurs," said Harry cryptically.

Actually it was Allan Grant, a paleontologist who finally took the idea of a messenger bird seriously enough to reply.

Hedwig always gave him such dirty looks because Grant was apparently excavating in the desert.

Grant had evidently done some investigating of Harry, and had sent him a review of what he thought of his thesis on the behavioral patterns of velociraptors while in a pack.

He was highly impressed. Enough so that he wanted to meet the kid once he was out of school for the year.

Sirius had no idea what he was in for.

"So what's your plan for summer vacation Harry?" asked Neville.

"I'm going to Montana to dig up bones for the summer. You're welcome to join me, since they have a paleobotanist there as well, digging up species of plants that no longer exist," said Harry.

"I have had enough talk about those bloody dinosaurs! When are you going to grow up and appreciate _modern_ history?!" said Hermione. Her patience had snapped like a twig, and she was sick and tired of the other students talking about monsters that were long dead.

"What's your deal?" asked Harry, turning to face her.

"My _deal_? My deal is that I am sick and tired of people talking about dinosaurs when they should be studying modern history! Dinosaurs died a long, long time ago and have _zero_ impact on people today!"

"So by your reasoning we should also quit talking about Merlin, correct?" said Harry coolly.

Everyone stopped to watch the confrontation.

"That is completely..."

"Think about it Granger. Merlin is, by your reasoning, ancient history. After all, there are no _recorded_ volumes that can be trusted to give us an exact date for when he lived and died. His existence has little, if any impact on the way we live today. And yet there are several Ravenclaws I can give _by_ _name_ who study the ancient wizard. After all, muggles regard Merlin as a myth," stated Harry calmly.

Hermione's mouth opened and shut, her face full of fury.

"Besides, I happen to think dinosaurs are going to be very much part of modern history. So please, when you finally get that ten-foot pole out of your ass, don't come crying to me."

Hermione looked like she was about to slap him...but the look in his eyes told her that was a bad idea.

There was something in that gaze that reminded her in a rather horrifying way of Talon when she was contemplating eating you.

"Oh, and before I forget, since I have the distinct feeling you'll find out soon enough... I found out where Talon came from."

"What."

"Yeah, apparently the man who owned the nest was robbed shortly after the embryo proved viable. He was glad that Talon was hatched and given a proper owner who could care for her correctly."

"Harry, those things are a menace," she stated flatly. The 'raptors' scared the living hell out of her and were part of some of her worst nightmares of being chased and eaten.

"Those things are legally mine both here and in the muggle world. I paid equal value for the cost of hatching raptors," said Harry, reaching into his bag to pull out what was clearly an _official_ muggle receipt.

Hermione stared at him in horror.

"You _paid_ for those...those...things? Why would you even want to keep them instead of returning them to their proper owner?!"

"Because I happen to like dinosaurs, and the risk of you trying to call in government scientists who are more likely to try and turn them into weapons or cut them apart to understand how this is possible go down if I have proof that they belong to me and that their original owners are fine with me owning them. Magicals don't care about them since they wouldn't exactly be exposing magic to the muggles, and the muggles would more or less turn a blind eye so long as I observed the same general rules they put in place for owning an exotic carnivorous pet and have a clear proof of sale."

It wasn't that unheard of for people to own _tigers_ , provided they had a certificate acknowledging they understood the risks and had all the appropriate things needed to care for them.

It was mostly rich people or wildlife rescues that had them though.

Hermione stalked out of the Great Hall, a thunderous look on her face.

"That went well. Can't wait to see the look on her face when she finally realizes there's a connection between why there's a sudden dinosaur craze in Hogwarts and the raptors in the paddock outside," said Harry cheerfully.

"So where are you going for Christmas?" asked George.

"Apparently Sirius has been doing so well in his therapy that I've been cleared for a brief visit before we go to Montana for the summer to dig up bones. Can't wait to see the look on his face when he find out that the 'sandy beaches' isn't the kind he's thinking of."

Remus, having passed by and heard that comment, smirked.

"Let me guess. It's a desert you're going to with less of a 'beach' and more of 'dry open spaces'?"

Harry smirked and nodded.

"Thanks for the heads up. Now I can bring a camera to catch the crushing disappointment of Padfoot when you break the news," said Remus smirking like the Marauder he was.

Who was he to get in the way of Harry blackmailing Sirius or crushing his hopes?

* * *

Harry had to fight hard to suppress his evil laughter as Sirius dragged him shopping for proper swimsuits. Because his pack wouldn't exactly 'fit in' with the muggles just yet (if ever), Harry had given them both three large pigs that were currently running wild in their portable habitat. Needless to say Talon and Sickle were currently stalking the porcine sacrifices.

He was planning to give them goat and other domestic animals for Christmas. They definitely earned it for good behavior.

Sirius looked infinitely better than he had the first time he got out. He had point blank refused to cooperate with the healers until he at least saw for himself that Harry was fine.

It probably didn't help that that was his initial meeting with Talon. Still, all he had to hear was that the terrifying "mini-dragon" as the Potter Watch called it was Harry's familiar and that he had more or less "trained" it, and most of his fears were put to rest.

Even if the thing still looked like it wanted to eat him.

Scratch that...especially since the lizard and it's 'sister' _still_ looked like it wanted to eat him.

Harry eventually caved and started giggling evilly, but covered for it rather quick by telling Sirius he was planning a prank.

He just neglected to say on whom.

He knew Grant and his team were looking forward to it... he may have commented on how he told his guardian that they would be going to 'sandy beaches', but neglected to tell him there wouldn't be any water.

Naturally they were openly amused by the idea, and would keep quiet on the matter until Harry broke it too him. It did not help that Sirius had _never_ been to America before.

Still, he did have fun dragging Sirius through the same natural history museum he took Remus to in order to explain what Talon and Sickle actually _were._

He just never expected to run into an unwelcome face.

"Granger."

"Harry," said Hermione tightly.

"This isn't your friend Harry is it, dear?" asked her mother Emma.

"We _were_ friends until I realized she put far too much stock in books and had an unhealthy dependence on the word of authority figures. It doesn't help that she kept calling my familiars evil," stated Harry flatly.

"Hon?"

"They terrify me. You can tell by looking them in the eyes they're thinking about the best way to hunt you down and eat you," said Hermione shuddering.

"It's not my fault you're not used to being outside your comfort zone and getting knocked down a peg off the top of the food chain," stated Harry.

Hermione turned red with anger.

"Hon, you really need to calm down. Thought stating it bluntly didn't help."

"Again, not my fault if she's too blind to realize there's a _connection_ between why the students at Hogwarts have suddenly developed a large interest in dinosaurs and their interest in Talon beyond the fact her and her sister are my familiars," deadpanned Harry. "I even gave her several beyond obvious clues to what Talon actually is, and she still didn't get it. She even refused to read any of the books that would have told her flat out."

"I told you before, I have no interest in things long dead and have no relevance to current events!"

Harry reached into his bag and showed them a picture of Talon and Sickle. It was one of Colin's better ones.

"Do you want to tell her or should we just show her the truth so she can face reality?" he asked with a flat expression on his face.

Dan and Emma looked at each other, then at their daughter.

"...It might go better if she saw the truth for herself rather than having us explain it," said Emma.

They personally dragged Hermione into the pre-history section of the museum dedicated solely to dinosaurs.

It wasn't until she got to the velociraptor section that her jaw dropped, her eyes went wide, and her mouth started to open and close like a fish.

She turned to Harry in absolute shock, then at the fossil currently on display.

A fossil that looked far, far too much like the thing haunting her nightmares.

A fossil that if it had skin, would look damn near _identical_ to Talon and Sickle.

"What..."

"I told you from the start they were raptors. I just never said their full name because I originally thought you knew what I was talking about...and then it became too fun watching you gnash your teeth because your hatred of dinosaurs kept you from the obvious. Then again, you are a girl so maybe it's genetic..." said Harry.

"But... What... HOW?"

"Uh... It's hard to explain and there's no way you'd believe the truth right now before it's unveiled?" said Harry sheepishly. "Besides, it would totally ruin the surprise and I'd hate to tell someone else's secrets."

Hermione looked at him, then at the fossil of the velociraptor and back at him again.

"You know what, I don't even care anymore. All I know is that when we get back I'm bribing the twins for some damn firewhiskey."

"That's the spirit! Nothing says you've totally broken someone like underage drinking to wash the memories away~!" said Harry cheerfully.

Sirius let out a bark of amused laughter. Definitely his father's son.


	9. Chapter 9

**Yes people, Harry WILL have a velociraptor harem...sort of. And I'm sure many will laugh when they find out what I plan to name the fifth member of his pack.**

* * *

The sight of a drunken Hermione would plague the Gryffindor common room for a full month before McGonagall finally took the girl aside. After that she spent the rest of the year learning from Flitwick...and the entire castle found out quite by accident that the girl had an unhealthy fetish for blowing shit up.

The twins immediately enlisted her the moment she was declared 'safe to be around' by the teachers after her break down. Considering this meant she could wreck revenge on Harry for not giving her Talon's _full_ description when he obviously knew it, Harry had learned to test his food before he ate anything.

Hermione was _mean_ when she was motivated. At this point he wouldn't be shocked if she ended up marrying one of the twins out of sheer frustration.

Harry cheerfully hummed something under his breath. It was a rather raunchy drinking song he picked up from Sirius a while back. Probably best not to let McGonagall recognize it.

"So how was your Christmas Harry?" asked Neville.

"It was great! I broke Hermione, Sirius got to meet the guy I 'bought' Talon and Sickle from, and I'll be getting a third to round out my raptor pack for next year!"

Hermione, when she heard that, twitched. Then she reached for her bag, took out what was clearly a flask filled with liquor, and then took a quick drink of it before capping it.

To be fair, her parents could completely understand the need to drink once they found out their daughter's friend had an honest to god pair of velociraptors as pets and had even trained them... and that he could turn into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It wasn't the animal form that bothered them, but the raptors.

However they were limiting her to the weaker proofs before she became legally 'of age' in the muggle world. And she was only allowed to drink when Harry was doing something phenomenally stupid...again.

She was more fun drunk than she was sober.

"How did he react?" asked Fred.

"Eh... I'm pretty sure the guy who owns the park I'm investing in was relieved to finally have an adult with me this time. Though I didn't explain he had been falsely imprisoned as the reason why he was missing the first time."

"I don't want to know for fear of needing a stronger drink," said Hermione flatly.

"Let me put it this way...the lead scientist is an arrogant asshole who thinks nothing of the creatures in the park, the head programmer is a fat bastard who reminds me painfully of a smarter, uglier Dudley, and the guy who owns the place is like a kid with a new toy," said Harry.

"And he's letting you go to his park before it opens...why?" asked Hermione.

"Target audience, I have common sense and knowledge of the animals in question, and I've proven I can handle almost anything thrown at me when he found out about Talon. He gave me Sickle to see if I could replicate it. Considering I'm one of his primary investors at this point, he's giving me the third one for free."

That and there had been a slight...incident at the park where one of the raptors apparently took over the pack and killed all but two of the others. Hammond had not been happy, but at least none of the workers had been harmed when the safety measures had to be implemented.

The raptor had, as Harry had predicted (and demonstrated with Talon's help) rammed the gate trying to knock the cage loose. The bar behind the cage had bent from the sheer force it had used...but it didn't break. The worker who had been opening the cage had fallen flat on his ass, but thankfully it had been behind the safety of the steel-wire mesh that had been threaded so closely together that the raptor couldn't get a claw through to snag the worker's boot.

Muldoon had been furious, more so when that same raptor demonstrated the clear intent of making it's own pack.

The idiot known as Henry Wu _neglected_ to tell him that he had accidentally breed an Alpha raptor, which was ten times more dangerous than the normal betas.

Muldoon was just glad the kid had talked some sense into Hammond. Almost immediately after the Alpha decimated the pack, they tranquilized every single one in there and put them into a much more secure building that there was no chance they could escape from. They were fed animals small enough to get through the doors, but not big enough for them to even squeeze through. And unlike the original paddock, this one was reinforced with actual steel rods that had spaces so that they could see the outside, but were too close together for them to get so much as an arm though. There wouldn't be any risk of them jumping outside this paddock.

They were simply too dangerous to keep in the regular park, not if they wanted to avoid accidents. Not even Talon could force the new Alpha to stand down.

And Harry wasn't stupid enough to go anywhere near the inside of the cage.

Ironically this made the insurance adjusters happy, because it told them Hammond took the safety of the people in the park more seriously than they had assumed. Unfortunately it had delayed the opening until they could breed a new pack of velociraptors to put into the original paddock.

This time they wanted no mistakes, considering the danger level of the raptors. Seeing Talon and Sickle hunt a pair of boars had been enough for Hammond to be convinced...and they were relatively _tame_ compared to the Alpha Henry had accidentally introduced.

In other words, Hammond wasn't opening the park until he was absolutely certain the vicious raptors were trained to the point that they could at least _guess_ what they were saying. He wanted Harry to teach the new batch Morse code. Either that or show them how to train a small pack (three or less) to follow one person as the Alpha so they could keep them contained without worrying.

Harry was just glad he found a new programmer who could take Dennis' place the moment he slipped and did something Hammond could legally _fire_ him for. He didn't trust that fat bastard any more than he had Dudley whenever someone gave him something.

"So what's on our schedule for today?"

"Ancient Runes, CoMC, and Defense," said Neville.

Harry had picked Runes, CoMC and a lesser known course in advanced transfiguration that you had to ask for and have parental consent.

Hermione had been furious when she found out the only reason McGonagall had accepted his request for the advanced lessons (which meant he no longer had to sit in the regular ones after a brief test) was because Harry was an animagus.

Hermione redoubled her efforts to finding the potion so she could become an animagus as well. If she had asked, Remus would have been happy to give her the extra vial that had been left over.

Harry loved being the TA for the CoMC class. It meant he had a legitimate excuse to deduct points from the Slytherins if they pissed him off...and they had lost their ability to harass Hagrid.

It was mostly keeping the new kids from bothering the raptors and keeping Hagrid from going overboard with the creatures he brought out.

It also meant he got an automatic perfect grade, and didn't have to turn in any homework or go through the tests. Not to mention it counted towards his CoMC OWL's grades, and later if he was still acting TA, his NEWT's.

But mostly he loved the fact it allowed him to be with the pack for several hours a day. More than he had the previous two years.

The number of near misses with the velociraptor pack had dropped to almost zero with Harry outside ready to act as intermediary.

Fortunately the other students were quick to treat the two raptors as a partially tamed dragon. They were trained enough to not immediately attack students on sight and to stay out of the castle, but not to the point you could actually _pet_ them without the risk of losing your hands.

* * *

"So bored..." said Harry, leaning against the fence.

Talon, hearing his voice and recognizing the sound pattern of 'human tongue' as she called it, made a series of clicks. Harry replied in the same manner making a few odd click sounds with his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

It had taken little time to figure out how to communicate without having to make the same barking noise with his throat. That had nearly killed his voice for a week until he started to click with his tongue.

It meant he could still talk to them without worrying about accidentally dropping the clicking toy he had bought months ago.

Looking at his pack, Harry realized with some despair that there wasn't a chance in hell of him ever getting a date as long as he insisted on keeping his raptors. He would have to chose between a human female who would obviously be freaked out by Talon and Sickle, or his raptor pack.

What he didn't know was that Luna had broached the issue with the pack, and the two raptors had come to an agreement.

Velociraptor were notorious by this point of being problem solvers (at least on the island anyway), and Talon had been watching her Alpha shift forms repeatedly since he unlocked the ability. Especially when he shifted from Raptor to Human. And if Talon was anything, she was possessive of _her_ Alpha.

There was also the fact that both velociraptors had been born and more or less raised in Hogwarts, a nexus of magical energy. Talon and Sickle spent _most_ of their known lives in the forbidden forest, eating magical animals (mainly the spiders because those buggers were tricky to catch and eat) and slowly absorbing magical energy through their bodies. They came to full maturity inside the borders of three known leylines, most of which were used to power the wards.

As a result, it was really little surprise when, out of the blue that day, Talon decided to try shifting. Just to see if she could.

Harry heard something, turned to face his pack...and stared in disbelief at the girl who was clearly Talon standing starkers in the pen.

He was quick to take off his robe and put it around her, because February or not it was freezing in Scotland.

It took little time to bring her straight to Hagrid's hut, since he wasn't entirely sure she would be allowed in the castle...and because he wasn't stupid.

McGonagall was quick to come out, but rather than looked shocked she was more resigned than anything.

It was almost like she expected this to happen sooner rather than later.

"Professor?"

"It's fine Mr. Potter. To be honest I thought this would happen months ago. Your 'raptors' are unusually intelligent, and being raised in a magical environment and eating magical creatures on a regular basis would have an effect even on non-magical creatures. It was inevitable that they would either figure out how to shift into human form, or develop magical properties. It also doesn't help that a familiar bond often goes both ways."

Harry looked concerned.

"Does this mean they'll be classified as magical creatures?"

"Not at all. This will merely be recorded as a side effect of your bond with them. They're still legal to have in the muggle side."

If the muggles hadn't raised any protest at this point towards his pets, she was going to assume they were legal.

Harry relaxed.

"So what now?"

"Now we need to find out the extent of the transformation, and if we can't train them to speak proper English. In magical terms they would be declared 'squibs' at best."

It took them four hours to narrow down what Talon could do.

Outside of being able to turn into a human for short periods (she preferred her natural form and hated clothes), being able to see through magical barriers and already knowing a limited vocabulary of words thanks to Harry teaching her Morse code at an early age, she would never be a full witch. She was also immediately given a collar that would give the illusion of clothes and would cause muggles to ignore her if she suddenly turned into a human in public.

This was a necessity.

The teachers also made it very, very clear she was never allowed in the castle unless she was in human form, because they didn't want to tempt Sickle into entering the school unless she could transform as well.

Talon terrified the house elves and had to promise to avoid the kitchens. She resorted to having Harry make her orders.

It took little over a week for the students to get used to this new oddity...but McGonagall proved to be true. Apparently some of the older students had been wondering when this would happen. So much so the twins made a betting pool about it.

On the plus side, he never had to worry about getting a date again. Talon had firmly and unequivocally declared Harry "hers" and would gladly maul any idiot fangirl into pieces. An not a single witch was willing to challenge one of Harry's pack.

Hermione swapped out her usual 'weak' flask for something a bit stronger, and blissfully slept out her hangover in the hospital wing, merely asking Harry to keep her away from whatever new headache he had spawned.

She was still too young to engage in other stress relieving methods, and her head of house wouldn't begrudge her current method to deal with idiocy-induced migraines. After all, she generally had a shot of good scotch after the twins had set off another large scale prank. Again. For the third time that month.


	10. Chapter 10

Harry was glad Talon was still considered a 'familiar', because he was absolutely certain if she had to sit through one of these tests she'd kill everyone out of boredom. The second he finished for the day, he went straight outside and began teaching Talon how to speak (and eventually read) English.

Because Talon had been extraordinarily intelligent as a raptor, she was picking up the English language at an accelerated rate.

He got to skip out of the CoMC test, because _he_ was the one administering it, with an attentive Talon and her terrifying eyes watching the children.

Nothing convinced teenagers to get their shit together and get a good grade like the threat of having Talon chase them for five minutes. Even Malfoy scrapped together an acceptable, because Talon had once 'chased' him along the fence line while licking her chops.

If it weren't for the fact she had to stay on her side of the fence when classes were in session, Malfoy wouldn't go fifty feet of his Care of Magical Creatures class.

Once outside, he found Talon on the orange side of the fence waiting. She had more or less gotten used to clothes, but she still didn't like wearing them.

She disliked the idea of being 'chained' via spells even less. And it had taken a brief demonstration before she agreed to wear the collar, which would warm up whenever she got outside the designated areas and came too close to humans.

Basically the magical equivalent of an electric dog collar, with a few extras.

The moment she saw him, she perked up, as did Sickle. Unlike Talon, Sickle hadn't quite hit the necessary amount of magic in her system for her to shift forms, but McGonagall assured him she would eventually.

"Hello Alpha."

And there was another headache he ignored. She refused to call him "Harry" and insisted on calling him Alpha. However when asked by Flitwick who her "Alpha" was, she would immediately responded with "Harry Potter". She knew his name and how to say it, but she was a raptor through and through and Harry had repeatedly demonstrated _he_ was the Alpha of their small pack.

Talon looked very bored.

"Do you want to work on English or acceptable human behaviors?"

Because after spending time in what he had come to know as "Granger's Hellish Study Hall", he was sick of books for the moment.

Talon looked pointedly at the Quidditch stadium. She had seen Harry fly on his new Firebolt (courtesy of Sirius as an apology for missing so many) and like her Alpha, had shown an interest.

"You want to try flying?" he asked. Talon nodded. Harry had an odd expression.

"Well, you are more closely related to birds, and if we keep things close to the ground I don't see why you can't try it out..." said Harry thinking about it.

He borrowed a few brooms from the shed, and then walked Talon through how to mount it.

It wasn't long before someone decided to start up a pick-up game of Quidditch once they realized Potter was out on the field and had picked the locks to the supply shed.

Harry was the only one who wasn't surprised when Talon proved as fast and lethal in the air as she was on the ground. Thankfully she had decided not to play Quidditch.

She did, however decided to fly laps around the lower ends of the stadium to familiarize herself with the broom.

By the time the game was over, Talon had more or less figured out how to fly on a broom without almost falling off.

Harry was grinning widely as the train rolled into the station.

* * *

"FINALLY! School is out for the summer, our passports have cleared, and we arranged a muggle plane to America! This is going to be EPIC!"

Left unspoken was the fact Sirius still had no idea that they were going into a desert area, not one with a beach.

And while there were going to be women there, they were more likely to be interested in Harry because he spoke their language.

Harry spoke nerd.

Sickle had managed to change into human for two or three hours, but her ability wasn't nearly as thorough as Talon's. Still, it was an improvement and it meant that she could pretend to be human for a little while.

Until she could hold it for more than three hours, she would have to stay in the carrier under a muggle-repelling ward. That was fine, because she could hunt down the food Harry bought her instead of the butchered meat.

It was actually Sirius' first time on a plane.

"Wow...muggles certainly are inventive. So where's 'Talia'?"

"In the cargo hold with her sister. She said she'd rather sleep than endure several hours of being cramped in a plane."

"Smart move. You did make sure to..."

"I left them something to play with if they woke up. They sure do love venison," said Harry.

Actually it was because deer were much more fun to hunt, even if buying the live ones was a pain in the ass. Considering he didn't want them to break out and go nuts on the plane, he thought they deserved a treat.

"Let's forget about the girls for a moment...and think about all the hot chicks we're going to see at this beach of yours!" said Sirius, still blissfully unaware of the truth.

Harry and Remus, who had the isle and middle seat respectively (Sirius had promptly claimed the window) looked at each other and managed to hide their smirks from the oblivious canine.

"They'll certainly be 'hot'," said Harry, trying hard not to laugh.

"Indeed, I think you will certainly be in for some 'hot' girls," said Remus, hiding his laugh.

Hot in the sense it would be over ninety degrees and the ability to keep things cold would be very welcomed.

When they finally reached Montana, and Sirius was completely out of it from the jet lag, Remus and Harry managed to put together the wizard's tent before they dumped him in the first bed they found.

* * *

The next morning, while Harry was helping make breakfast, he kept an eye on the tent.

Sure enough, Sirius came out in shorts and a t-shirt, then looked at his surroundings. It took him a full minute to realize something was off. It took the others a few seconds to start snickering and then outright laughter.

"I've been had, haven't I," said Sirius after a moment.

"If by had you mean the only sand around belongs to the desert, then yes," said Grant chuckling. Harry had warned them that he had informed his guardian about them going to 'sandy beaches' for the summer, but hadn't said a word about it being in the desert.

Sirius looked at Harry.

"Well played pup."

"I did say there would be sand," Harry said laughing.

Remus snorted.

"You never asked about what Montana was like once Harry said there would be 'sandy beaches'. You should have looked it up before we came."

The amusement over with, everyone dug into breakfast.

"So what exactly are you digging for here?" asked Sirius.

"Dinosaurs. Specifically raptors, if we're lucky," said Grant.

Sirius blinked.

"You mean like those things Harry showed me at that museum?"

Grant looked at Harry.

"I dragged both Sirius and Remus into the British Natural Museum to show them dinosaur bones. I think I impressed the tour guide because I knew most of them right down to their genus and subspecies."

"Yes, those kind of bones," said Grant.

Harry looked particularly eager to get to digging.

* * *

It was official. Sirius Black was bored. And when he was bored, weird things happened. Fortunately for the researchers, Harry had threatened him with the idea of Talon and Sickle using him as stalking practice for three hours.

After finding out Harry had more or less pranked him by not mentioning the fact that there would only be sand and no actual water source, Sirius had to survive on cooling charms and conjured water, which he then had to ice with overpowered freezing charms.

Unsurprisingly, "Talia" and her "sister" were more or less unaffected by the severe heat. This was because their species had adapted to living in much hotter weather than Scotland.

For the most part Sirius found the whole dig rather boring. Though he did find it hilarious that both raptors apparently had an addiction to video games. The gorier, the better. He generally stayed with them in the magical tents which had to be charmed to handle the odd sandstorm.

The most excitement he got out of the whole thing was watching Harry's face light up every time they found a new set of dinosaur fossils and how everyone would carefully dig it out.

Because Harry was _technically_ funding the entire dig, Grant and the others could take their time with it.

Grant clearly understood Harry better than Sirius or Remus did, because every time they found a new fossil, he had Harry identify the species and whether it was male or female. To his credit, Harry had a ninety-two success rate on the gender and a perfect score when it came to identifying species.

Primarily because most of them were already living in the park.

Harry was having the best summer in his life. Not only was he with adults who actually _listened_ to him, even if Grant's friend Ellie did treat him like a kid most days, but he was digging up bones!

It was an indescribable thrill every time they unearthed a new fossil, and the rush he got when he saw the bones first hand... it was positively addicting.

Grant had initially been apprehensive about him being there, especially since one member of the group had brought their son who was a brat, but when it became clear Harry had a passion to match his own and knew exactly what he was talking about, he seemed to loosen up.

The two could chat for hours on the possible theories concerning raptors and other carnivores. He found Harry's insight on their behavioral patterns fascinating.

However the biggest surprise for the summer had yet to reveal itself.

About a week before they were scheduled to return to England, mostly to get to the Quidditch World cup a few days early and watch the people come in (Sirius got free tickets), Harry heard something coming in.

His eyes widened as he recognized the emblem on the helicopter, and when he grabbed a pair of binoculars he recognized the passenger.

Hammond was making a visit.

Harry immediately went inside his tent and warned Sirius.

"We might be making a trip to the island. Better get the things packed."

"I'll let Remus know," said Sirius.

"Do I have to go into carrier?" asked Talia.

"Can you stay in human form for the entirety of the trip?"

Talia looked pensive.

"I'll try, but I make no promises once on island."

"Fair enough. Just do it out of sight when you do change," said Harry. Talia nodded.

When Hammond exited the trailer, having convinced the two scientists to come to his island, his eyes widened a fraction when he saw Harry.

"My boy! I had no idea you were at this particular dig site!"

"My guardian and Uncle decided it would be a nice change of pace from Europe...after I failed to warn my guardian that the 'sandy beaches' were a hundred miles away from any large water source," snickered Harry. "So what's this all about?"

"The insurance adjusters insisted that we have experts sign off and endorse the park. While most of your ideas kept their concerns on safety to a minimum, they were still worried about liability and wanted an outside opinion. And I'm afraid my lawyer hired someone who's more trendy than useful," said Hammond.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Let me guess...that idiot hired Malcolm, despite the fact he's rather useless in concern to the animals."

"On the nose."

"Well if they're going to the park, then perhaps I can cut my time at the dig short. Sirius has been complaining about being bored anyway, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to bring in a programmer I hired to check Dennis' work."

Considering the PI he hired after hearing about the row Dennis had with Hammond over monetary problems had told him about a secret meeting, Harry was justifiably paranoid about the man.

He didn't trust anyone that reminded him of Dudley, and Dennis might ruin everything by sabotaging the programming.

Hence why he offered to buy off a hacker if they agreed to make sure he didn't slip any surprises. He was happy enough to avoid jail time if it meant doing what he assumed was simple maintenance.

Hammond nodded.

"I'm afraid the main chopper will be a bit overcrowded, but I can arrange a second one to join ours. Plus I still need you to sign some paperwork for me to make everything legal."

The 'paperwork' as he called it, was a massive transfer of ownership. Harry was actually the largest and most interested investor of Jurassic Park. His family funds were providing most of the care for all the animals on the park, as well as the breeding aspect. He had agreed to it in exchange for Sickle.

Hammond, being the shrewd man he was, had gone to his attorney and had an unusual legal document made.

In the event of an 'incident' involving human death, or bodily injury due to an escape, Jurassic Park and all the animals in it would automatically become "Harry's" property. Essentially Harry would own all the islands, the animals and anything contained on it, making him legally responsible for them. In exchange for the islands and everything on it, including the animals, Harry's accounts would transfer a large sum of gold. The goblins had assured him that he could cover it, but it would take some time before his vaults could recover if they did have to transfer.

Fortunately the biased exchange rate of gold to pounds meant that he would take a lesser hit, but it would still make a sizable dent in his inheritance.

This was mostly because Hammond didn't like how the others in iNGen viewed the park, much less his lawyer. They only saw the animals as assets. Harry saw them as creatures to be respected.

It gave the dinosaurs a large measure of protection from human greed if they were no longer considered iNGen property. And if anyone _from_ iNGen tried to steal or clone a dinosaur, because Hammond was including the patents to clone them, then Harry could legally sue the offending party and retrieve his 'investment'.

It was all nice, legal...and meant Harry could be as vindictive as he liked so long as he was protecting the animals.


	11. Chapter 11

Sirius and Remus stared out the window as they flew in the second helicopter to the island. Talon was in her human form, and for the most part she didn't seem too antsy. Sickle was still sleeping in the carrier, because Harry had fed her a small pig before they left.

"Wow... muggles sure can come up with some weird things, eh Harry?"

"Just behave while we're on the island. While we've isolated the problem pack, I'm really hoping we don't have to do an emergency transfer of ownership after this weekend," said Harry.

"Emergency transfer of ownership?" repeated Sirius.

"In the event the park becomes too dangerous to allow human visitors, Hammond's agreed to 'sell' the park and all the animals on it to me for a large sum of money to protect them from the greedy executives of iNGen. I'm just hoping that the tour goes smoothly so I can start making a decent return on the gold I've already spent bringing it up to code," said Harry. Then he turned to face the window. "We're coming up on Isla Nublar now."

While this wasn't their first time on the island, it would be the first test run of the tour program.

"I can't wait to see what all the fuss was about," said Nicky. He was an American that Harry had 'rescued' from the Feds in exchange for possibly replacing Dennis. He was beyond smart, and he knew code like the back of his hand.

Unfortunately he also had a bad habit of hacking into things he shouldn't. It had taken a large sum of gold to get the Feds to drop the case...mostly paying the lawyer to get him a lesser sentence.

He was considered on probation for the next five years.

He was only coming because he figured he owed Harry a solid for bailing him out...and because he was eager to see what all the fuss was about.

"You did buckle up before we left, right?" asked Harry.

Sirius pulled up the tail end of his seat belt. Because of the fast drops, Harry had advised them to buckle in once they sat down rather than wait.

Hammond's chopper would land closer to the 'visitors' landing pad, so Grant and the others could get their first look at the dinosaurs.

Harry would land closer to the visiting center itself, so he could do a complete run-through with Muldoon to make sure everything was up to code.

Well that and it meant Talon and the others could walk around in their natural forms, since the park employees were aware he had 'trained' his raptors.

They weren't safe to be alone around, but they were safe to have out of the cages.

However they wouldn't do that until later.

Harry grinned when he saw the awed look on Grant's face.

"Harry? What are you doing here?"

"I partially own the place. Who did you think insisted on most of the security measures around here?"

"Harry here is one of my biggest investors," said Hammond.

"Besides, Talon and Sickle _really_ hate being cooped up all the time."

"Who are... Dear God!" yelled Grant.

The two velociraptors promptly took point on each side of Harry.

"Harry those are..."

"This is Talon, the oldest, and this is her sister Sickle. I'm eventually planning to get a third I'll call Scythe to complete the pack. Though compared to the three we had to put into isolation, they're fairly tame."

"There are more raptors?" said Grant.

"An alpha and two betas. The alpha killed most of the ones in the cage except for two, and she was having them test the perimeter fencing. So we dosed them and put them into an isolation area that they can't get out of. There's one entrance and exit, and there's heavy bars across the door."

That seemed to calm him down...though he was still freaked out about the two in front of him.

Which was when Harry demonstrated his next trick.

He took out the clicking toy and put in a series of commands. Grant watched in amazement as the raptors turned left, and then right.

"How..."

"They're intelligent. More than half my class back in Scotland couldn't hope to compete with them. And they took to Morse code rather quickly, which made things easier. So long as you respect the claws, teeth and the mind within, they won't treat you like prey," said Harry shrugging. Then he grinned. "Though if you want something _really_ impressive you should see the T-Rex."

Grant took one look at the trio in the paddock, and shuddered. The alpha female in there gave him a bad feeling. Talon was a tame pet compared to that thing.

"Why do you keep her alive?"

"Just because she's a vicious animal doesn't mean she has no reason to live. Besides, as long as they're safely contained with minimal chance to escape, they're free to roam their paddock. There's a reason why Hammond agreed with me to make this particular area off limits with a 24-hour guard."

Only competent guards were allowed _near_ the paddock, and while Harry had clearance he generally avoided it on principle.

Until Jurassic Park was open, Hammond couldn't really afford to lose any of the animals. Especially considering how much it cost to breed them in the eggs to begin with. He wasn't about to write off any of them so long as they were safely contained, and the protections around this particular paddock weren't part of the main computer.

Sometimes simple methods worked best, even if the most they had tech wise around the paddock were cameras and a very nasty electric fence too high for the raptors to jump over and too narrow for them to climb through or up. And the bars were solid steel, so they couldn't simply ram them.

Grant still didn't like the idea of turning his back around Talon or Sickle anytime soon.

"So what's your take on this place?"

"It's a good idea, but I had to make some changes before I started to invest seriously. Did you know originally there was only a simple electric fence around the T-Rex pen? Or the one around the dilophosaur?"

Grant winced.

"I convinced Hammond to beef up the security around Rexy and put a thick, clear plastic around the dilophosaur pens. Kept them from spraying the vehicles again. There's also modified tornado shelters around the Rexy's pen, so there's at least a safe place for visitors to run to if she breaks out."

"Modified tornado shelters?"

"She can ram pretty hard into most barriers, but I have serious doubts she'd be able to dig very well with her feet. Plus they're close enough that people can practically jump into them, even if it means breaking a leg in the process. The entryway is too narrow and reinforced for her to do more than stick her head in, and she would have great trouble biting anyone if they were in the shelter itself."

Grant nodded. It was pretty smart. A T-Rex was built for speed and muscle, and balanced on two legs. It wasn't really built for digging anything out.

"Not to mention the extended cattle prods would dissuade her pretty well...or piss her off. Either way the visitors would be safe from Rexy."

While they were talking, Grant and Harry were almost back at the visitor center. Grant had been pretty upset learning there were _other_ raptors on the island, but the security seemed very tight around that paddock.

"YOU FREAKING IDIOT! WHO THE HELL TAUGHT YOU TO CODE, A THREE YEAR OLD?! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET PEOPLE KILLED YOU LAZY... _"_

"I'm guessing Nicky found something," said Harry smugly.

"Nicky?"

"I told Hammond I didn't trust Dennis to program a VCR, much less the entire park. So I brought in a second opinion."

They got back in time to see security throwing Dennis out of the visitor center, and Hammond looking furious.

"And by second opinion, I mean I had Nick hack into the main computer to check the code without telling anyone. I guess he found something seriously wrong with the code."

Grant was clueless when it came to computers.

As if to add insult to injury, when they investigated the items Dennis had on his work station they found an odd can of what looked like shaving cream. An inspection of the can, however, revealed a subtle container that had just the right slots for the dinosaur embryos housed in the lab.

Hammond was furious. He could tolerate many things, but jeopardizing his park in the name of corporate espionage was not one of them.

Especially when Nick explained _exactly_ what one line of code would have done to the security. Whatever the 'White Rabbit' was, it would have done some serious damage.

Dennis was on his way back to the mainland to face criminal charges, among others. Needless to say he was fired.

"So Nick, how long until you can create a working code?" 

"Give me a few hours to clean up the mess that moron made of a simple job, and then we'll talk."

"If you can get the park up and running properly, I'll hire you to take Dennis' place. You can name any price you want for wages," said Hammond.

Nick blinked, before he grinned.

"Count me in. This place sounds more interesting than being a hacker for hire."

"Well...who's hungry?" said Hammond.

In light of the tropical storm about to hit the island, everyone opted to wait before taking a rough tour of the park. Mostly because Harry insisted they drive the gas vehicles since the electric ones ran off the computer.

Naturally Grant took that as an opportunity to ask many, many questions about Talon and Sickle.

"So are they really pack oriented?" he asked excitedly.

"Absolutely. Because I made sure to establish myself as dominant to Talon after she hatched, and showed the proper respect one should towards her species, she respects me as Alpha of the pack."

"I'm amazed no one has heard about these two before now."

"Well my school is really isolated and so far into the mountains that phones won't reach... that and most of the kids at my school automatically assumed she was some rare lizard species. Of the few that did recognize her, they immediately believed she was something that just happened to _look_ like a raptor. Fortunately my teachers allowed me to keep her, once I proved I could at least keep her from maiming the other students. As for my home, well I got all the papers required for an exotic pet, and no one said a thing."

All true, without saying the full story.

"Fascinating. Do you think Talon would let me inspect her?"

"She seems to like you, but don't prod her so much that she starts to get annoyed. She makes a specific sound when she's ready to bite someone."

"How did you keep her feed though?"

"Well at the school there's this problem with a non-indigenous species of animals, and they mainly target them with the odd domestic animal for treats. Talon is a major fan of jerky, by the way. When I lived with my aunt Talon mostly ate cats."

Grant blinked.

"Cats?"

"Ferals, to be specific. There's this woman who lived on my street who had like, ten cats, seven of which were male and were never fixed. She never kept them inside, so the cat population _used_ to be a major problem. After I brought Talon home I let her eat the ferals since it meant fewer cat fights. No one seemed to complain...they were just glad the cats were gone and no longer yowling in the middle of the night."

Grant seemed to accept that explanation, and pet overpopulation was a known issue in many pounds and rescue organizations.

Besides, it was better a feral cat than a human.

"So why Morse code?"

"It's simple, easy to duplicate and an excellent test of Talon's mental acuity. Plus it made communication much, much easier."

Grant nodded in agreement.

It was around this time Nick came in, looking tired. He needed a break from coding for five hours straight.

"I have a rough tour program ready, and I've fixed most of the holes in the security that idiot deliberately added. Thank god there's no programming required for that raptor pen outside of the security feeds," said Nick. "We can begin testing the program once the storm is over."

"Well right now we're waiting to make sure the power grid doesn't give out on us. You can take a break if you need it," said Harry.

"I'm going to take a nap so my eyes quit killing me. This is actually the most fun I've had in a while."

"So where were we?" said Harry. Grant grinned.

Harry really, really didn't like Ian Malcolm. The man was an _ass_ , and had a smug attitude worse than Henry Wu before Harry put the fear of god into him with Talon.

Yes, this entire thing was like a bomb about to blow up in their faces, but considering how lax Hammond had been before Harry showed up the security could have been a lot lighter and the potential damage much worse.

Especially in the case of the velociraptors after Wu accidentally bred an Alpha into the mix.

However the man's smug superiority and how he was absolutely certain things would go downhill...it pissed Harry off.

The only real threat was from the T-Rex or the raptors getting loose. The dilophosaur were easy enough to handle...a few Hazmat suits and some stunners and they'd be down for the count. And with Harry's animagus form...well, "Rexy" as he had affectionately named her, would be more likely to either mate with him or chase him out than go after any humans.

He was, after all, the only MALE Tyrannosaur on the island.


	12. Chapter 12

Hammond was surveying the damage done to the T-Rex pen with a critical eye. Rexy, as she had been officially named in an attempt to humor Harry, was out cold but otherwise unharmed.

The same could not be said for the perimeter fencing. During a routine check of the tour programming, one of the bugs Dennis deliberately left in the computer activated, likely an attempt to weasel more money out of Hammond.

If Hammond wasn't such an easy going man he might have hired someone to 'deal' with Dennis for the trouble he caused and left behind.

At this point Hammond was more inclined to hand over the Park to Harry and act as the public face and partner to the idea. He knew more than Hammond did about how to run a _safe_ park full of prehistoric animals than Hammond did...a fact he was not loath to admit.

That being said he was very, very glad that Harry had been able to get a pass allowing him to reveal magic.

It made shutting Malcolm up infinitely easier.

The fence had been heavily damaged from Rexy ramming into it, but because it had been made of steel and not hollow tubing, it had held admirably. He shuddered to think what would have happened if he hadn't changed the fencing at Harry's insistence...or the potential lawsuits that could have come if not for the emergency bunkers.

The second the electricity went out, everyone in the jeeps had hauled tail straight for the underground bunkers in case Rexy managed to get out. Having them clearly labeled had made things infinitely easier, even if having to install them had been a logistics nightmare.

Rexy gave up on her escape attempt the second Nick managed to get the electricity back on for the fencing.

Hammond wasn't the only one inspecting the fencing. Muldoon was as well, and his face spoke volumes.

"I'm going to be thanking every deity I've had contact with as a hunter that boy talked some sense into you. Putting Rexy back _in_ would have been a complete nightmare," said Muldoon.

At least he wasn't saying "I told you so".

"I'm seriously considering making that boy full partner. His ideas have been a boon to the park. And that boy he brought with him has become indispensable in getting rid of the mess Nedry made."

Not to mention when he wrote up a potential contract for the boy, which was half of what Dennis had all but demanded for his services, he had agreed to a slightly lower salary in exchange for his legal difficulties removed.

Nick could live with being known as the "head programmer" of Jurassic Park once it went public. The publicity alone would be worth it!

And yet he was infinitely easier to deal with than the overbearing pain in the ass that had been Nedry.

"Is everyone safe and accounted for?" asked Hammond.

"Since Harry insisted we use the gas-jeeps, and they all dutifully got to the bunkers once they realized the light was out as a precaution, we're all accounted for. Not even a scraped knee out of it."

"...Has Malcolm shut up yet?"

"Thanks to the wizards we have on the island, I haven't heard a peep out of him," said Muldoon vindictively.

According to Black, Muldoon was classed as a 'squib' in their world, and he had decided to make his money in Africa rather than deal with the idiots of the European magical community. He found he liked the dark continent infinitely better, which was why he stayed there and forgot about his family until Harry showed up.

Apparently the idea that a MacNair who was tolerable to be around was rather amusing to Black. Even if his younger brother was a bit of an ass.

Coincidentally after telling Black of his ancestry, he was entirely unsurprised about magic. He was also quite vocal about his approval to keeping Malcolm quiet...and his amusement that the 'wizards' automatically assumed Talon and Sickle were "mini-dragons".

Hammond sighed.

"The insurance idiots are going to have a field day with this."

"I think they'd be more inclined to give you a benefit of a doubt after they find out you already had that idiot arrested, and that you plan to make the one who brought the security issues in as full partner."

"This is going to set us back _months_."

"Better to be set back then never opening at all," chimed Harry.

"True."

The damaged bars were replaced within hours, with Rexy kept asleep until the repairs were done. No one wanted to risk her waking up, and having her that close motivated the workers to get the job done fast and correct the first time.

With that done, they continued the tour. Malcolm wasn't happy at them discreetly hitting him with a silencing spell, but no one really cared.

Grant seemed very happy with the security precautions, especially considering it fit in with _known_ dinosaur behavior. He did have a few suggestions, but for the most part it was fairly secure.

And he was particularly pleased that for every security fence, there was a safe zone for the guests to evacuate to in the event of fence failure. All within a certain distance of the fences, generally thirty feet or less.

In the case of Rexy, the shelters had been ten feet from the bathrooms and clearly labeled in bright fluorescent paint that was visible even in the night. It was well stocked in event of injury, had clearly labeled communicators, and had enough food and water to withstand a siege for at least a week, depending on rationing and the amount of people in there.

There were also beds, a few board games and lighting.

As Hammond would like to say, they spared no expense to make sure guests remained comfortable and safe until they were allowed out.

What they didn't know was that there were specific wards around the shelters to prevent raptors or other predators from entering without any notice. Generally based off of Talon and the scans they took off the killer ones in the paddock. Anything that fit that general criteria would set off an alarm, and they would be able to remotely _lock_ the shelters from use from the visitor center.

Considering anything that set off that particular alarm wasn't liable to be friendly, and any other predator would be easily dispatched, it was a reasonable addition.

Not that Hammond knew of it.

"How did the tour go?"

"Grant seemed to enjoy it, as did Ellie. I think he felt relieved when he found out I had a large hand in upgrading the security around the dinosaurs, since I clearly have an interest in them. He's still getting used to Talon though. And Malcolm only had a few snide comments about the entire park," said Harry. Comments that generally got him a stinging hex to the ass.

"And our...other...friend?" said Hammond tactfully.

"Would not shut up about the money. Thank magic we don't have to deal with his ass once he makes a report. And that we've been detailing all changes to the island since I brought Talon with me. Coincidentally..."

"The next raptor egg will be yours... I just hope Wu remembers to _check_ for the Alpha traits instead of just adding them like last time," said Hammond.

He had SEEN the slight variation and thought nothing of it when he bred that raptor. At least now he knew what the Alpha genes looked like, even if it had been a nasty surprise when they found out. Losing five raptors had been unpleasant, to say the least.

* * *

Sirius rather enjoyed the island. Because it was privately owned, Harry could legally cast magic as much as he wanted.

Which lead to an...interesting...discussion.

"You want us to what?"

"Hire some muggleborns who used to be Aurors. After the war, the Auror and healers were downsized, mostly those who were muggleborns. At the risk of making a rogue nation of magicals, you could legally hire them and make the place safer. Not to mention that having a standard nondisclosure agreement would be perfectly acceptable."

"And I could train them to raise raptors and act as security for the islands. There were others you know, this was just the one opened to the public. We just need to weed out those who can't handle being around them."

"You could also give werewolves a place to hide."

"One thing at a time. First let's make sure the park is up and running before we start hiring actual security."

They needed a proper source of revenue before Harry could start making plans for a magical sanctuary of sorts.

Still, it got him thinking.

Harry was rather pleased with the reports Hammond sent him via satellite uplink. Once they figured out HOW to get around the magical interference, it made communication that much easier.

According to Hammond, thanks to the security and the fact that there was a minor mishap that ended without injury or fatality...not to mention the genuine approval of actual experts on the "animals" in question, the park was legally covered.

Well, as long as they made safety a priority anyway. And with Grant signing off an endorsement to the park, they could legally open up...provided Nick and a few friends of his were able to clear out the mess Dennis Nedry left behind.

That wasn't his concern at the moment though. Right now he could focus on being a normal fourteen year old wizard enjoying an international Quidditch match.

Because of the safety concerns...and the fact Talon and Sickle _hated_ loud noises...they were closer to the woods than most. Well that and it put them within a stone's throw of the water spigot, which was right close to the action.

Both the raptors would be staying in the tent, either sleeping or playing video games. They were an excellent way to get used to 'hands' as opposed to 'claws'.

Harry rather enjoyed this part of his summer. He particularly liked watching the match, even if the Veela did spark some confusing emotions in him.

One part wanted to impress them, the other part of him wanted to maim them for trying to exert their power over him.

Because they conflicted so radically, it made it much easier to ignore them.

An unwelcome idea occurred to him after the match.

"Sirius...what's the Ministry's standpoint on Veela?"

"They tolerate them, but getting a wizard to actually pay for a crime against them is difficult. Half the time the bastards claim they were 'affected by the allure' and get off with a lighter sentence or none at all. It's still a step above the way they treat werewolves, but I think it's because wizards like the idea of beautiful women, even if they aren't fully human."

Harry didn't like that. He didn't like that at all.

Which was why he was glad that the third island was more or less unoccupied, being too small for dinosaur research or breeding.

Perhaps they could turn it into a magical reserve/sanctuary. After all, Hammond was planning to make Harry full partner with the majority shares.

If it wasn't for Harry, there was no way his park would be even close to up and running, never mind the fact that several people could have died because of the fences.

Hammond was the visionary, but that fell short when it came to safety precautions. Harry was the realist, but he didn't have the contacts or know-how to have come up with any real chance of making the park a reality in so short a time. Combine the two and you'd have a power-partnership that meant large profits.

Not to mention the fact Harry was well on his way to a doctorate in dinosaurs, thanks to the recommendation from Grant. He just had to finish his schooling and take several tests first.

* * *

It was close to midnight when the screaming started.

Harry took one look at the Death Eaters in full regalia, then at Talon.

"Guard the tent, and maim anyone who isn't already cleared by me if they try to enter."

Talon nodded before switching into her true form, with Sickle close behind her.

Guarding their territory came naturally, and only Sirius or Remus could come close to the tent now.

"Harry, we need to...what are you doing?"

"I'm going to put the fear of Godzilla into those bastards. Just make sure no one besides you or Remus tries to come in. Talon and Sickle are going to be on guard duty, and I gave them clearance to maim."

Sirius winced.

"Be careful."

"I plan to have fun," said Harry ominously.

Godzilla was the Marauder nickname given to him because of his animagus form. He knew letting Sirius watch those old movies had been a mistake.

The best part was that the Ministry wouldn't be able to pin this on Harry. His familiars were clearly registered, as was his T-Rex form. No one knew of his velociraptor or the original animal form.

Which meant the Indominus Rex was about to have a lot of fun...and since he wouldn't be blamed, he didn't plan on just sticking to maiming.

A pity he couldn't let Talon or Sickle loose, but he didn't want to give Fudge a reason to take them away or ban them from the school. Their presence alone had made his life much more bearable, because people were too terrified of them to talk behind his back.

Harry's toothy mouth grinned evilly. This was going to be hilarious, and if Fred and George were any indication, very satisfying.

Good thing Sirius had a pensieve.

* * *

Sirius took one look at the headline and shook his head at Harry.

"That was cruel, evil and absolutely devious. I approve."

 _ **Invisible monster attacks prominent pure bloods! Exonerated Death Eaters to pay heavy fine for inciting riot and mass hysteria!**_

"Not my fault most pure bloods don't have enough common sense to fill a thimble," said Harry smugly.

There, on the Daily Prophet, was a clear picture of what could only be Lucius Malfoy with his ass hanging out of his Death Eater robes being shaken much like a dog would a toy before falling into a large puddle of what most would assume was mud.

Unfortunately for Lucius, the 'liquid' used to make said mud wasn't water. To be fair, Harry had been pretty much downing butterbeers like they were going out of style and saw no reason to change back just to find a loo.

As if that wasn't enough, Harry managed to incapacitate most of the idiots who caused the panic by biting off arms or legs, which would take months to grow back if at all. They were in too much pain to consider apparating out when the Dark Mark showed up, so they were all summarily arrested without question. It didn't help that Harry had slammed his tail into the jerks 'playing' with the poor muggle family that had the bad luck of living there. If that didn't break several ribs and make them think twice about getting up, nothing would.

To top everything off, his thunderous roar right after the Ministry got it together to finally show up definitely made an impression. The fact they couldn't see him enough to aim their stunners just made his day.

"Well Harry, I'm proud to say you make one _hell_ of a Marauder. Your father would be laughing his ass off and your mother would be torn between proud and worried."

"I really can't wait to shove this in Draco's face," said Harry smugly.

Thank magic his true animagus form had camouflage, otherwise people might draw some inaccurate, if true, conclusions as to the culprit.


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione walked up to Harry, looked him square in the eye and asked bluntly "Are you the invisible monster from the game?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement on the grounds I don't want to give the Aurors a reason to arrest or fine me," replied Harry without hesitation whatsoever.

"That's what I thought. Thank you for giving me something to mock Malfoy about for the next month whenever he utters the word mudblood in my presence."

"You're welcome and I'd be happy to repeat the scenario only this time with Malfoy being thrown into the Black Lake."

"I'll keep that in mind," replied Hermione. Their relationship had been somewhat mended after Hermione had her break down and found a reasonable coping method. It didn't mean they were best friends again, just that they could stand each other for long periods once more.

"On a completely unrelated note, how would you like to be my secretary?"

"Explain before I hex you," she said.

"You know about the muggle venture I've been so invested in, right? Well the man who started it is planning to make me full partner soon because I helped prevent a major incident. You're also highly intelligent, very organized and capable of assessing risk factors I wouldn't take into account. I know dinosaurs and some human behavior. You know facts and the ability to calculate which things are useful and what isn't. Which means you'd be perfect to act as my partner/secretary and you'd be able to put a rather condescending scientist I know in his place. He likes to play god because he helped to advance the scientific field, with no thought to the consequences."

"What do I get out of this arrangement?"

"Full funding in any field you wish, along with the ability to pursue any subject you wish to become accredited in. There will be a lot of notoriety and respect if you agree to help, and you'll be able to access things most people would normally be unable to get within ten feet of without having to deal with most governmental protocol. We're a civilian institution, not a government one, even if we might do projects with them."

"So essentially a position of power, respect and the ability to explore previously untouched fields of science and magic...all in exchange for working with you again? Do I have to be involved with dinosaurs?"

"Not directly. That's my field of expertise, your job will be to keep the place running under a reasonable budget while I deal with the animals. However I don't want you to only consider them assets. You'll have to go out and learn a little about them so you understand their needs better. I could put you in charge of the herbivores, which aren't as cranky as Talon or Sickle."

Hermione weighed her options. The odds of her getting a college degree or a good job after Hogwarts was next to none, considering the lack of muggle subjects. Harry was offering her a chance to become famous, respected and do things she already enjoyed, in exchange for being his friend again.

"Deal. I'm not doing your homework for you though."

"Fair enough. You just need to keep me grounded again around humans and not allow me to become too dinosaur obsessed to the point I forget the human factor."

Hermione nodded.

"It's good to have you as my friend again Harry."

"Same here, Hermione."

"You are, of course, going to pay for my bar tab in order to deal with your rampant stupidity and the headaches they're liable to incur," she said flatly.

"Deal."

* * *

The second Harry heard about the tournament, he did the only thing that came to mind.

He let his head bang on the table repeatedly.

Hermione didn't stop him.

"Mr. Potter, you will stop that this instant!"

Harry just looked at her. Then he looked at Dumbledore.

"I would like to put it out now that I have absolutely _zero_ interest in entering or participating in this tournament, but I would not be adverse to one-upping whatever show the other schools put one when they get here."

Dumbledore smiled at him.

"Duly noted. If you and others wish to create a show for the other schools, I'm sure something could be arranged."

Harry smirked at the Weasley twins, who lifted their goblets in acknowledgment. It was _so_ on now.

* * *

Harry stood before the most inventive minds Hogwarts had to offer.

Fred and George Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Lee Jordan, Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Tracy Davis, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot and the Creevy brothers.

Almost all the houses were represented, and the Ravenclaws would join in once they had a solid idea of how to use Harry's T-Rex form to scare the living shit out of the French and Bulgarian schools.

Harry was firmly of the opinion that there was nothing like overkill when it came to showing off what they could do. A fact most of the school agreed with, if it meant proving their pride as English magicals.

Colin was mostly going to act as the photographer, since he clearly had a knack for it.

Harry had already offered to make him the Official Photographer of the park once he had more experience.

Colin rather liked the idea of being a photojournalist...just with morals. And Harry agreed to pay for any camera he wanted once he started out.

"Ladies and Gents, we have a sacred mission. Our one and only goal is to one-up the two other schools coming here to prove that Hogwarts is superior to whatever they can scrape up. To that end the Headmaster has agreed to allow me to use my animagus form to scare the living shite out of the two schools, with the possible caveat that Talon and Sickle join me. Now, are we ready to show the rest of the school some house unity?" said Harry.

"Question. Why did you include us?" asked Daphne.

"You three are the most consistent top scoring Slytherins in the entire house, and you rarely if ever use the word 'mudblood'. Besides, you've demonstrated more common sense than most of your house and actually showed the proper respect to Talon and Sickle," said Harry without hesitation.

Daphne nodded. It was nice to be appreciated for the right reasons.

"Not to mention this means I don't have to hear any of the Slytherins bitch about how they weren't represented on the grounds that I was being a biased Gryffindor," Harry added.

Tracy snorted in agreement. Potter was more tolerable already after hearing _that_ comment.

"Now, shall we get started?" asked Harry evilly. Matching grins appeared on the faces of almost everyone there. Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, and if any of you three get busted after hours, just tell the professor who caught you (if it's not Snape) that you lost track of time helping us out with the preparation. So long as you extend that same courtesy to the twins, of course. I'd be happy to back your claim, even if it's a lie."

"Why?" asked Blaise bluntly.

"Simple. I'm sick of the stupidity that comes out of Slytherin because Malfoy is a complete and utter moron. If I hadn't held Talon back that first year, she would have killed him within days, if not hours. Frankly I could care less if you're a Slytherin, Hufflepuff or half-mad Gryffindor. So long as you leave me and mine alone, I'll ignore you and your dealings. I do not, however, appreciate muggle killing or torture, if only because they're making up a good portion of my income base once the park is open."

Blaise blinked.

"Fair enough. Come to think of it, the only time we hear you talk bad about us is generally when you bitch about Malfoy or Snape."

"I dislike the blond idiot, and think he was born the wrong gender. If he doesn't bat for the same Quidditch team I'll eat my wand," deadpanned Harry. The assembled Slytherins snorted in agreement.

"Hell, I'm in...but on one condition," said Tracy.

Harry looked at her.

"I want the animagus potion."

"Does the same apply to the rest of you?" he asked.

There were multiple nods, save for Colin and Luna.

"I would have thought you'd jump at the chance to become an animagus like Harry," said Fred.

"We already are. We took the potion the same day Harry did, we just don't show it off as much," replied Luna.

Colin turned into his terrier form and barked, before Luna turned into her Crumple Horned Snorkack form.

Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You are so getting us the potion for our help," she said to Harry.

"I'll ask Remus to brew some more. By the way, why haven't you two used the potion I gave you last year?"

"We did, we're just having trouble with the transformation part. We keep getting stuck," said George.

"I'll share the book with you, and maybe we can figure out what you're doing wrong," said Harry helpfully.

* * *

Harry couldn't wait for this year to be over. Primarily because Hammond was going to announce the opening of the park on New Year's, a sort of present to the world.

Thanks to the Fidelius charm, only those who had been on the island before were allowed to remember it existed. However no one outside of Harry or Hammond could tell anyone what was on it.

The islands weren't secret. The contents on it were. And after another attempt at corporate espionage, which failed because Nick was too loyal to Harry to try and steal the research or anything on the island, Hammond was fast loosing his patience with human stupidity.

Harry already made it very, very clear that anyone stupid enough to follow the same stunt Dennis Nedry had tried to pull would be fed to the "killer" velociraptors without hesitation. The fat bastard had put the entire island at risk, all for monetary gain. He also explained _why_ he was planning to feed them to the raptors.

Fortunately most of them happened to LIKE Harry (especially the workers who had to deal with the Alpha raptor) and agreed with him. Dennis' stupidity would have caused the more dangerous ones to get loose had he succeeded.

When Harry asked why he chose January first, Hammond had replied that he wanted the park to 'herald the dawn of a new age', and people generally associated New Years as the start of a new beginning. He would have gone with Christmas, but New Years was accepted and celebrated by more people...and didn't have as many religious connotations.

Depending how this year went, Harry might or might not be able to attend the opening ceremony.

As it was, Moody wanted to have Harry guard the 'impartial' third party when the other schools got there to make sure no one was entered against their will. With his familiars at his side.

Unfortunately for Moody, Harry already knew something was up about their new Defense teacher.

Talon's nose was far superior to any dog, and something about him made her think 'bad prey'.

The last time she looked at someone like that, it had been Peter Pettigrew.

Which meant something might be up about Moody.

* * *

Harry had to admit, the performance by the French and the Bulgarians was _mildly_ impressive. But the devious smirk on his face as his queue was given made his conspirators smirk as well.

It started out as a rumbling sound. That of heavy impacts on the ground. Then came the bark-like cries of something unusual.

The doors of the great hall practically _slammed_ open as Harry stood there in his Tyrannosaur form...and he _roared_. The sound vibrated in the stones and scared the living daylights out of the foreign students.

Behind him came two from each house flying streamers, while Talon and Sickle easily balanced on Harry's back as he 'walked' into the great hall.

Fred and George carried red and gold streamers that had the Gryffindor Lion emblazoned on the fabric. Luna followed them with her lion hat that cheerfully roared along with Harry.

On the opposite side was Daphne and Tracy with their Slytherin streamers, with Blaise dragging a Chinese like snake behind them. It was the best they could come up with.

Behind the twins and Luna was Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot with the Hufflepuff streamers, and Cedric dressed up like a badger.

Last but not least was the Ravenclaw contingent. Anthony Goldstein and Roger Davis had their streamers, while Cho Chang was dressed like an raven. (Think the dress Katniss had on for _Catching Fire_ , only as an raven and not a mockingjay.)

The twelve witches and wizards danced around Harry's animagus form on their brooms, with Talon and Sickle doing a few moves of their own. Then as one they all threw their streamers into the air, which became fireworks that proudly turned into the Hogwarts banner, which was accompanied by one final roar from Harry and barking sounds from the raptors.

Then they landed in front of the teachers (those on brooms) or they shifted back into human form and did a bow (Harry, Talon and Sickle).

A few seconds after the shock wore off...with the Hogwarts crest still cheerfully burning on the ceiling merrily, the applause started. Once the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang students got over the shock of Harry's animagus form, they clapped more than was polite as well.

It had been one _hell_ of a show.

With that done, everyone went back to their respective tables, with a cheerfully grinning Harry leading the way.

"That was wicked mate! Even if you did scare the daylights out of everyone!" said Ron appreciatively.

"That was the point. I did that to get the attention of everyone, and once we had it we put on a proper show. I mean I have a pretty wicked animal form, so why not use it, eh?" said Harry cheerfully.

You could see nods of complete agreement from all across the table.

"But why did you involved the Slytherins?" asked Ron.

"So I wouldn't have to hear any whining from Snape or Malfoy about how we didn't include them. The less bitching I have to hear from either of them, the happier I'll be," said Harry flatly. Hermione nodded in agreement.


	14. Chapter 14

Harry managed to slip out of the common room and out into the hall where the goblet innocently sat.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Dumbledore... Okay, it was more that he fully believed Dumbledore's idea of security matched that of John Hammond. The similarities were uncanny.

He had the best of intentions, but when it came to follow through, generally he _fell_ through.

Hence why Harry was calmly laying down in the room with the goblet in his Indominus Rex form. Thanks to the camouflage and the fact it was so dark, no one saw him.

A good thing too. He saw Moody walking right past the age line with a paper in his hand. Harry silently stood up, reached close to where the line was...and used his tail to knock Moody flat on his ass.

It all happened so fast that Moody couldn't get a stunner in. And thanks to the conk on the head, he would be dazed long enough to switch into his T-Rex form and sit on the idiot.

He almost felt sorry for the Ex-Auror when those cheesy potatoes kicked in. That had been one massive...and smelly...fart.

If the head injury didn't knock him out cold, the smell did.

Two hours later, and Harry almost jumped up when he felt movement under him roughly fifteen minutes after he sat on Moody.

It wasn't until one of the professors came in to investigate the door being open that they spotted Harry. Or more precisely, Godzilla.

"Potter! What is the meaning of this?!" demanded Snape irate. He _loathed_ patrolling at night.

Harry said nothing, merely stood up and let Snape see the comatose form of Moody.

Only it wasn't Moody at all.

Where the ex-auror had been, there was an unknown male with a peg leg roughly where Moody had his, in Moody's clothing.

Snape, apparently recognized him.

"Potter, change back so we can talk properly. If he wakes or moves, stun him without hesitation," said Snape eerily calm.

Harry shifted back.

"Who is he? I caught him about to put a paper inside the goblet, so I knocked his leg out from under him with my tail."

"A dead man, much like Pettigrew was supposedly dead. And a former Death Eater, but one that went to Azkaban. Do you see a flask on him anywhere?"

Harry looked until he found something silvery on the man. He cautiously levitated it to Snape. One sniff was all he needed to confirm his suspicions.

"Polyjuice. Make sure he doesn't leave, even if you have to sit on him again. I'll need to inform Dumbledore about this."

"Why not have Susan send a letter to her aunt? I mean this sounds like something Madam Bones would be rather interested to hear, and he doesn't have a good track record with sharing information."

Snape blinked twice, before he nodded in agreement.

"Stay here."

An hour and two stunners later, and Amelia Bones came into the school. She was not pleased at being woken up so early.

"Barty Crouch Jr. How was he captured?"

"I knocked him out with my tail, then sat on him until someone came in here," supplied Harry helpfully. "Thankfully the age line didn't react since I wasn't trying to breach it."

"I'm not going to ask," said Madam Bones after thinking about it. "Why didn't you call Dumbledore?"

"For the same reason I went over the security measures with my muggle partner. He had all these brilliant ideas, but when it came to security his follow through had a bad habit of _falling_ through. Besides that man has too many secrets," said Harry.

Amelia thought that one over before nodding. He did have a valid point.

"Besides, it was pretty easy keeping him down once the cheesy potatoes kicked in."

"...Cheesy potatoes?"

"I gave the house elves recipe books, and they've been having fun with trying new ones. This week it was cheesy potatoes as well as some of the new favorites. I daresay it didn't agree with Crouch though...the smell alone would have knocked him out a second time."

Despite the situation they were in, Madam Bones worked that one through before she let out a genuine laugh. She managed to hold in her snickering long enough to ask "Were you in human or animal form at the time?"

"I was sitting on Crouch with my arse close to his face. What do you think?" deadpanned Harry with a grin. Madam Bones laughed again.

It was when she was leading an unconscious Barty Crouch Jr. that Dumbledore finally showed up. And he was not particularly pleased she had come to Hogwarts. Even less so when he learned Snape had called her first rather than alert him to the issue.

And if that wasn't damning enough to the old wizard, the fact that Barty apparently had been attempting to put Harry's name into the goblet and force it to pick a fourth, only to be foiled by the boy himself upset him greatly.

Harry hid a frown.

 _'Come to think of it, Dumbledore wasn't exactly pleased to have Talon around to begin with. And the less said about the looks he shot me when he found out I tricked the teachers to the third floor first year, the better. It's almost like he_ wants _me to have dangerous adventures,'_ thought Harry.

Looking back on it, there was always some sort of near-miss adventure averted because his attention was generally focused on his _raptors_ rather than magic.

To be fair, Talon and Sickle did require a lot of care and attention, especially since they were adapted to live in a tropical climate and not a cold and humid one like Scotland. There was also something about some deficiency specifically engineered into the dinosaurs, but to date Harry never had that issue.

Either Wu hadn't put in the so-called contingency correctly, or the dinosaurs naturally adapted after they got old enough. They were, after all, born long before humans even existed so it was possible they had never _needed_ whatever it was Wu withheld to begin with.

Science was a wonderful tool...but humanity's grasp on it was still in it's infancy. And just because they had managed to somehow resurrect dinosaurs did in no way mean that they understood everything about them.

Harry made sure to mention that to Grant in a letter, about how they still needed people to _dig_ up the dinosaurs and figure out how they lived before human intervention if they wanted to have even a remote chance of understanding how they would react once they were brought back.

It certainly improved Grant's mood, hearing that from Harry. Apparently he was of the unpleasant opinion he might be out a job at the rate Hammond was going. He just needed a reminder.

* * *

"Wait, could you repeat that?" said Daphne incredulous.

After they spent so long conspiring for the big show, the group seemed to...meld...together easily. Once they got over the whole house rivalry thing.

"I said I sat on a Death Eater and then knocked him out with a fart. I think I might be lactose intolerant or something, because this has happened before..." said Harry.

"Not that. I mean the part about a Death Eater in Hogwarts," said Daphne, not even caring what he meant by 'lactose intolerant'. If she did, she'd ask Hermione.

"Oh. Well according to Madam Bones when she questioned him, he was supposed to put my name in the goblet under a fake school and force me to compete. But since I busted him before he could enter my name, it should mean I'm not going to be forced to enter. Also his dad is apparently going to be joining him because he helped break him out in the first place," said Harry.

"Who was he again?"

"The Crouch family. Father and son. And unluckily for him, he cast out his elf before this whole thing happened, so she can't exactly destroy evidence now. Considering what happened, I'm planning on having Dobby retrieve Crouch's elf and have her bond to my line. It should cheer her up at any rate."

Hermione growled, but kept her peace. She didn't like the whole system, viewing it as slavery, but after a nice, long talk with Flitwick she learned to keep her mouth shut about it.

The elves _needed_ the bonding to survive properly, since there was apparently some form of magical degeneration in their cores that made them atrophy until they died otherwise. Harry said she was welcome to try and find a way to either reverse it, or avoid that issue before she attempted to free them.

At least it shut her up about the subject.

"Wait, Crouch as in _Barty_ Crouch?!" said Blaise.

Harry nodded.

"His son was...is...a convicted Death Eater, and from what little Susan's aunt let slip, was party to something that happened to the Longbottoms."

Susan winced.

"I heard about that. A team of Death Eaters stormed the wards of the Longbottom hideaway and tortured Alice and Frank Longbottom until they lost their sanity. From what I heard it's why Neville lives with his grandmother."

"Just out of curiosity, are their minds completely gone or are they just catatonic?" asked Hermione.

"I have no idea. It's not something you ask," said Susan.

"No, I get what Hermione's asking. What sort of services could one get to repair or treat mental health issues among magicals?"

"It's not discussed, period," said Daphne flatly. "Either they do away with you or hide you from the public, since it's seen as having an unstable connection to magic."

Hermione, Harry and Colin all frowned.

"That doesn't sound right. I mean our uncle David is schizophrenic, but he takes his medication and goes to appointments regularly to live a normal life. Are you saying there's nothing like that in the magical world?" said Colin.

"What's schizophrenic?" asked Tracy.

"It's a mental disorder. There's medicine and treatment, and some people can more or less adjust to normal society," said Hermione.

"We don't have anything like that," said Tracy with absolute certainty.

"Well it's worth bringing up to Neville in any case. There's a chance their minds weren't lost at all, just put into a state of shock and they just need someone who knows what they're doing to break them out and tell them it's safe to come back. Or definitively tell the Longbottoms that they're just shells and that it's healthier to put them out of their misery," said Harry.

"You do that, I'll stay out of hexing range of Augusta Longbottom thank you," said Blaise flatly.

"Anyway as it turns out Mr. Crouch switched his wife for his son, and when she died no one bothered to check if it was really him. He had his son under Imperius all this time with only Winky to insure he stayed put. He even cursed an employee who found out and was threatening to blackmail him."

"Who?"

"A witch named Bertha Jorkins, I think," said Harry. "There's also the fact that an inspection of the trunks showed he was keeping Moody in one of his expanded ones with limited food and water. Just enough to keep him alive. They're reasonably certain they can bring him back to full health, but until then Madame Bones is sending another auror to teach us. That is, if Moody is still interested."

"Bet that did wonders for Dumbledore's reputation," said Daphne with a snort. There were answering snorts for the others.

"That brings another issue to mind. We all know the Malfoys haven't got any love for Dumbledore. But consider this...how many positions of authority does Dumbledore currently _have_?" said Harry. He looked at Hermione.

"Supreme Mugwump, the lead diplomat of the International Confederation of Wizards, and headmaster of Hogwarts," she replied immediately.

"Now what do each of those positions do," said Harry.

"Supreme Mugwump is basically like the head judge, in muggle terms," said Daphne.

"I think you mean Chief Magistrate, but they amount to the same thing," said Hermione.

"As head diplomat he is the leading voice in the ICW," said Blaise.

"And as headmaster he has a hand in the education of all new witches and wizards, and his accomplishments mean people listen to him outside of school," said Fred.

"Right, now I want to ask you this. Who else has the power as the head judge, effective diplomat, and lives in a castle that presides over others of varying nobility?" said Harry.

He had looked Dumbledore up, and when he added all those duties up in his head, he didn't like the picture he got. At all.

It took Hermione a few moments before she caught on.

"Oh my god..."

"What is it?" asked Dennis.

"A king. He's essentially set himself up as a _king_ in all but name," she said in shock.

"He even lives in a castle with the best rooms and has a throne," added Harry. "What's more he essentially has a hand in almost every aspect of magical culture for Great Britain and the outlying countries, particularly Europe."

Blaise, Daphne and Tracy blinked, before they paled as well.

"That is rather horrifying."

"I'm not saying that Dumbledore is bad, but perhaps Lucius Malfoy was right in that we need to replace him. Besides, it can't be healthy acting as a de-facto king of an entire community."

Seeing the Slytherins nod in agreement, Harry had the feeling this particular revelation would hit the snakes pretty damn hard, especially when they point out WHY they came to that conclusion.


	15. Chapter 15

Harry couldn't have predicted how quickly his revelation Dumbledore was essentially the KING of the English Magical community would spread. Or how people started to put their own comparisons to what a king did and what offices Dumbledore held and get the same realization.

Dumbledore had yet to hear this particular rumor, or it hadn't spread among the grapevine of the teachers nearly as quickly. Either way, students were sending owls to their parents and guardians explaining what Harry had meant when he said Dumbledore was a king in all but name.

And if it had come as a nasty surprise to the students, it was nothing compared to the quiet outcry of their parents.

Particularly in the case of Cornelius Fudge, once he got wind of it.

For the first time since Grindlewald came into the picture, people were actually _thinking_.

Some, like Molly Weasley, were perfectly happy accepting Dumbledore as a "king". She would have jumped at the chance to make it official, for in her eyes Dumbledore could do no wrong.

Others, like the Longbottom and Bones families, found this revelation disquieting. The source of the revelation didn't matter was much as the implications of it. Especially when given the clues needed to make similar realizations on their own.

Lucius was still in shock that Potter agreed that Dumbledore's power should be taken down a few pegs, even if it was unlikely he'd agree with any replacements he might suggest. Still, the fact remained Potter clearly wasn't a blind servant of the headmaster as he had originally assumed.

* * *

"The Champion for Hogwarts will be...Cedric Diggory!"

Almost immediately after that was announced, the fire went out. Harry personally breathed a sigh of relief.

Clearly whatever malicious prank with him in mind had failed when Barty Crouch Jr. was captured. Either that or the true culprit hadn't been able to get a second agent into the castle quick enough, especially after security was beefed up.

The students could try their luck no problem, but a second age line had been added that prevented anyone older than nineteen from cross the line.

The age limit had been set originally at _seventeen_. The oldest students were pushing eighteen at most.

Anyone older than nineteen was too old for any of the schools, unless they were held back. And if they were a year too old, they had plenty of opportunity to enter before the second line was added.

With that headache prevented, Harry clapped for Cedric, before cheerfully going to sleep that night knowing there was little chance he'd be dragged into a tournament he had zero interest in.

His disinterest in the whole thing ended the second he ran into the dragons for the first task by complete accident while hunting with his pack.

Charlie Weasley either hadn't been warned about the raptors and "Godzilla", or hadn't taken said warnings seriously until he came face to face with the two "mini-dragons" and their much larger and far more mischievous Alpha.

Needless to say it took them several minutes to calm down their heart rates and fifteen more before they realized no, they weren't dragons but they sure as hell looked like them. It didn't help that the two raptors viewed the wizard's instinctive spellcasting as a game and proved themselves to be superior at hide and seek, while Harry was too busy being on his back laughing his ass off from some of the swearing he heard...while still firmly in his T-Rex form.

Once the confusion was cleared up, Harry got along smashingly with Charlie and immediately decided that if the park didn't work out then he would do his best to become a dragon tamer, though preferably one that worked in a sanctuary that _didn't_ kill them for parts.

"So what are they exactly?" asked Charlie, after they split off from the main group.

"Velociraptors. Their scientific classification is Genus Velociraptor, family Dromasauridae, suborder Theropoda. Their name literally translates to Swift Raptor. Should have seen Hermione's mind snap when she found out that I had been telling her the entire time what they were, but she was too narrow minded to bother thinking past the modern," said Harry cheerfully.

Charlie blinked. He didn't understand _half_ that.

"So they're not dragons."

"They might be related, but I haven't figured that out for sure yet. I mean the carnivorous dinosaurs sure as hell _look_ like dragons without any wings, but I've yet to find one that actually breathes fire. It is possible that some actually evolved to become dragons, but I don't know if anyone has conclusively proven that to date," said Harry. "However Talon and Sickle are extremely intelligent, so please tell your friends that next time they intend to hex first, ask questions later they'll be lucky if my raptors only bite them someplace that's easy to heal."

"I'll keep that in mind. You just startled us is all."

"So what exactly is the first task?"

"Are you going to blab to Cedric?"

"I don't know him outside the fact he's the champion. However, if one of the Hufflepuffs I talk to regularly mentions it then you can generally assume it either came from me or Talon."

"Discreet."

"I could be bribed to keep Karkaroff and Maxime away from the dragons until the first task, in the interest of fairness."

"Devious. I can see why the twins like you."

"Well that and because these two would be patrolling the forest anyway."

"How about I give you a tour of the dragons?" asked Charlie. He could see the genuine interest in Harry's eyes.

Talon walked up to Harry and made a series of clicks. Harry used his tongue to reply. Talon shifted into "Talia", to Charlie's amusement.

"How long has she been your familiar?"

"Since midway through first year. Hagrid won her in a card game, and mistakenly thought she was a sort of rare dragon's egg. Since she saw me first, she bonded with me."

"Want to meet Fire Wings," said Talia.

"Fire Wings?"

Talia made a growl in her throat, along with a quick series of clicks. Harry's face light up with understanding.

He knew teaching her Morse Code would come in handy.

"She means the dragons. Apparently fire wings is what raptors call dragons."

"Fascinating."

"You think that's interesting, you should have seen my face when I found out how far her genetic memory goes. Apparently raptors adapted with an instinctive knowledge of predators," said Harry.

A pity she couldn't tell him how things were _before_ the meteor struck.

* * *

When the first task came, all _three_ champions were woefully unprepared for what they were about to deal with.

Mostly because of Harry's successful (and profitable) venture of keeping both the foreign headmaster/headmistress from that section of the forest.

Karkaroff ran into Talon and Sickle four times before a near miss with Talon kept him away.

Maxime only had to see Talon ripping into what could only be a very old Acromantula before giving her what was clearly a speculative look, before she decided discretion was the better part of valor. Well, after she tried to hex both raptors once and they never even hit.

Needless to say Charlie and his friends found the entire thing highly amusing considering all Harry actually did was prevent any of the schools from cheating.

In return Harry learned a great deal about dragons...apparently they _were_ somewhat related to velociraptors.

How else could you explain why the Horntail understood Talon's noise and replied in kind. Thanks to that they were able to save the nests, because the wizards had forgot to account for the sudden temperature drops.

"Tell me again how you made money off the first task?" said Daphne.

"I got bribed by the dragon handlers to keep Maxime and Karkaroff away, since it wouldn't occur to Cedric to ask me if I had seen anything unusual in the forest, even if it was through Susan. If he had, I would have let them know about the dragons early out of fairness. Either they're _all_ on the same page, or none of them are. Makes it more interesting if they can't prepare, wouldn't you agree?"

Tracy snorted in amusement.

"How much did they pay you?"

"Twenty galleons and three books that are technically illegal to buy in England, but not to own. I think I'll try for a dragon handler career instead of an Auror, if the muggle investment doesn't work out."

"At least you have prior experience to handling animals with sharp teeth," said Tracy teasingly.

Potter was infinitely more interesting now that they had gotten to know him properly.

Too bad in order to get anywhere with him romantically, you had to get past his vicious 'pets'. It was a very large turn off seeing those green eyes sizing you up as either a fellow predator or soon-to-be prey.

One by one, the champions were sent out. With so little time to prepare, their true talents as competent wizards (or witch) shined.

Cedric ended in second, with Fleur a very narrow first. Viktor was firmly in third for his part in accidentally destroying three eggs.

Dumbledore, as it turned out, was very put out about the fact Harry had 'persuaded' the other headmaster/mistress into avoiding the forest.

He had cheerfully and calmly explained to them in clear, no-nonsense tones that the two-colored fence was around the perimeter for a reason, and it had nothing to do with the native species. The only reason they hadn't been attacked on sight was because he had taught his familiars not to go after magicals without them attacking first. He didn't want to give anyone a reason to _remove_ them after all, and foreign heads or not, they didn't exactly HAVE a valid reason for being in the forest except to cheat.

The Hufflepuffs were particularly pleased when Harry clearly announced that he had deliberately barred them from the dragons in the interest of fairness. Had Cedric thought to ask Susan or Hannah to find out what the first task was, Harry would have allowed Karkaroff and Maxime to learn as well.

Since he didn't have the presence of mind to cheat, Harry saw no reason he should allow the other schools to do so and leave Hogwarts in the lurch.

Ironically that only made the French and Bulgarian students looked at him with respect, for relatively the same reasons. The fact he had found a successful way to repel BOTH Karkaroff and Maxime without harm was impressive.

Not to mention that neither party knew it had been deliberate on Harry's end.

* * *

Harry might have groaned about the whole dance idea had it not been for one fact.

Talon was one hell of a fangirl repellent. None of them were willing to challenge her presence, because she was highly territorial of her Alpha.

And since she figured out how to turn into a girl, it seemed to be a given that she would be his date.

Fortunately Dumbledore took Harry's suggestion that they have the train run a few days late, if only so the students could attend the dance and still visit with their families.

He wanted to see the park open, dammit!

Still, to avoid anyone having false hopes he did ask Talia to the dance and she agreed...though she wasn't happy about wearing a dress. Flitwick was able to modify her usual 'collar' so she wouldn't be too conspicuous.

"So Krum asked you out?" said Harry.

"It took him a week and multiple visits to the library, but yes."

"Look at you, bookworm by day, international Quidditch Star's eye candy at night!"

Hermione was torn between blushing and glaring at him. Instead she settled on a stinging hex.

"That being said, I might be able to get you and yours parents free tickets to the new park I've been helping with."

"I refuse on the grounds I don't want to see more velociraptors," said Hermione.

"Actually we had to quarantine the park raptors until we could safely afford to breed new ones. The scientist in charge accidentally bred an Alpha and it killed most of the pack. At most you'd see a T-rex and a few other species, though the only other predatory dino on the tour is the dilophosaurus," said Harry.

He neglected to add that he had to particularly beef up security around those two. At least with the ten foot high plastic wall there was a reduced risk of the dilophosaur accidentally _blinding_ someone, though they did have to stun the dinosaur in question to safely put the new security in.

The fact the raptors _weren't_ on the official "tour" (except for Talon and Sickle, but they wouldn't appear until the summer, which would give Hammond plenty of time to breed new ones to take their place) seemed to be enough for Hermione.

"I'll bring up the offer to my parents."

* * *

It was official. Harry hated the wizard's idea of "popular music". And if he hated the Weirding Sisters, who should really learn how to play their damn instruments properly, it was nothing compared to the look Talia shot them while holding her 'ears'.

They were quick to vacate the hall after that started playing.

Talia looked particularly pleased when she was allowed inside the school as Harry's "date".

From what he knew of raptor pack mentality, she was clearly trying to establish herself as the "Alpha female" to Harry's Alpha status. It didn't help at all that two of his three animagus forms were raptor compatible.

Talon was the more...cooperative...of his raptors, and the one he trusted the most to behave when he wasn't around.

And if he had to admit it, he would say he didn't find her human form unattractive. Quite the opposite.

He just wasn't ready to start actually dating.

Outside of the not-so-shocking revelation that Hagrid was half giant...and the sudden acquisition of a particularly snoopy beetle that Talia quickly identified as an animagus (likely an illegal one considering he had looked at the register and never saw one on it), the ball wasn't a total disaster.

He still couldn't stand the Weirding Sisters though.


	16. Chapter 16

Hammond couldn't believe it was really happening. The park he had envisioned would soon become a reality...all because of a magical child who accidentally acquired a velociraptor egg. If not for Harry, Hammond shuddered to think of the disaster that would have struck, likely many times over.

From Nedry to identifying that the raptors needed to be permanently quarantined for the safety of everyone, to the security issues he had thought could be fixed after the park was opened.

Harry had come in and practically saved his dream. More than that, he did it not out of greed or for fame, but because he genuinely loved the creatures.

And for that reason alone Hammond had made him full partner, even if technically he couldn't access his shares until he turned sixteen.

Seeing the excited people lining up to the opening ceremony, he finally saw Harry arrive with "Talia", who was in fact his first raptor.

He didn't understand the mechanics of it, but Muldoon assured him that the bond went both ways. Therefor he wasn't entirely surprised to see "Talia" at all.

Harry cheerfully stood next to Hammond. The fact was the man had revealed his partner in the park, so Harry was technically expected to show up. Especially since Hammond set this on a holiday.

"You start the speech, and I'll help cut the ribbon," said Harry with the mike off. Hammond nodded.

Hammond took to the stage with a proud smile on his face.

Harry mostly tuned Hammond out about how he had an idea that sparked the dream of a lifetime...to bring back an extinct species from so long ago no one actually remembered them beyond their bones. To be honest he had heard the speech already, and even helped Hammond tweak it a bit so as to avoid offending people.

He had already agreed to deal with the idiots who might think about releasing the dinosaurs out of some preconceived idea that they were 'helping' them.

Harry planned to do a press release to explain his involvement in the park and would emphasize the fact that the main reason he helped Hammond was because the man planned to 'educate' people and not turn the dinosaurs into living weapons for whoever could pay for them. That should avoid most of the 'tree huggers' from showing up, and those that didn't believe him would get a very up close and personal look at the trio of raptors they had to remove from the tour.

If that didn't convince them they had the best interests of the dinosaurs in mind, nothing would. Well, that or some people were going to be permanently removed from the gene pool for their stupidity.

It wasn't like Nick couldn't adjust the security tapes before Hammond saw them.

Harry snapped back into attention in time to avoid anyone noticing he had spaced out, and he walked up with Hammond and explained his part in the park.

He mostly gave half-truths about insisting on helping with the park seeing as how he was part of the 'target audience' and how his love of dinosaurs had lead to him becoming full partner.

He said nothing about Talon or the others.

Hammond and Harry took the large scissors and officially opened the park with a single snip.

Watching the kids run around and look at all the information made Harry smile.

This was why he had agreed to help Hammond make this park a reality. Seeing their faces and the knowledge it would inspire them to learn about dinosaurs...to see them as more than just some interesting bones.

It made all the headaches worth it.

Seeing Hermione's face after ten minutes with Henry Wu assuming she wouldn't understand a word in five...priceless.

That man had a god complex worse than any pure blood he had ever met, and if he could he'd feed him to the raptors. As it was, he was still too useful to kill just yet.

"Oh that man! If I could hex him I would!" growled Hermione.

"Just wait. If I end up as the owner of the park I'm putting you in charge of his budget and then keeping several PI's on retainer so I can legally own his ass," said Harry.

"Good. He's worse than _Malfoy_ ," she replied, obviously having trouble believing that was humanly possible.

"Trust me, I know. Fortunately he's terrified of Talon after she nearly bit his head off when he turned his back to her."

That seemed to improve her mood.

"Still...it's hard to believe you were a part of something this big."

"I'd rather be known as the part owner of a park that revolutionizes science and paleontology than as the boy-who-lived," said Harry.

At least here his fame was absolutely warranted.

"Ah, Harry! Just the man I wanted to see!" said Hammond.

"Ready to switch out in the control booth I take it?" said Harry.

"Everything's ship-shape thanks to Nick, and everyone's been properly trained. Thankfully the gas jeeps are operational," said Hammond pleased.

There was yet another bug in the system, but Harry had a solution for why they weren't using the electric track. Officially it was labeled as the "Night Tour". Unofficially the system was such a hassle Nick would be quite happy to scrap it all and just import electric jeeps the moment they became available. Much less headache, even if the bill would be a nightmare.

The moment solar cars became available, Hammond would be able to replace the track system with something more reliable and less likely to leave the visitors stranded.

At least they had been able to cover the tracks up before the reporters noticed them...

"Would you like an in-depth look at the inside of the park?" asked Harry.

"Absolutely."

"I swear to the binary gods, I will be thrilled when someone invents a gas-less car. Then we can do away with the whole system. The stupid program takes up more memory than the feeding system!" said Nick.

"Hermione, Nick. Nick this is my friend Hermione...and once we graduate she's agreed to act as my secretary for when I actually _need_ one."

"How'd you get suckered into that?"

"He's my friend from school. That being said I intend to make him suffer by paying off my bar tab from dealing with his repeated idiocy," said Hermione flatly.

"Nice. So what do you know about computers?" asked Nick, visibly eyeing Hermione up. Rather than be offended, Hermione looked pleased.

Then again to a hacker like Nick, appearance was nothing compared to the ability to understand what he was saying, and he didn't get out much since coming to the island.

"No making out in the control room...do that on your own time," said Harry playfully. Hermione punched him in the shoulder. "So Nicky, how fairs the park?"

"Well Rexy is currently sulking again, the dilophosaur is putting that clear barrier of yours through the ringer...thank the binary gods for sprinkler systems, otherwise it'd be a sheet of venom... and most of the herbivores are behaving as predicted. Everything appears to be going smoothly, the guides are doing their job like we trained them and everyone here is more or less on high alert. And thanks to the wards, the only people near the raptor paddock are those that are _supposed_ to be there."

"What wards?"

"Muggle repelling wards, mostly, and ones that alert us if a raptor breaches containment. That idiot Wu introduced an Alpha raptor who killed most of the pack except for two. We had no choice but to remove them and put them into permanent containment. At this point we're going to be using them to deal with any lawyers that try to slap lawsuits on us that would never hold up in court, or idiots who try to commit corporate espionage. Sure wish we could have pushed that bastard Nedry into the pen...would serve him right..." said Harry.

"Oh, he got his. I may or may not have put in some false markers stating he was a pedophile before he was put into a federal penitentiary. If they aren't using him as currency and making him wish he were dead, I'd eat a Bronto-Steak."

"Once again, you remind me why I chose you to take his place," snickered Harry.

"That being said everything looks like it's running smoothly. Even if it was a bitch and a half rounding up all those loose dino infants thanks to Wu's stupidity."

"What did he do?" asked Hermione.

"He made all the dinosaurs female, but forgot to take into account the fact that certain species can change gender in a group comprised of only males or females. Some of the dinosaurs were breeding, but we caught it in time. Thankfully we didn't add another T-Rex," said Nick.

"And that we had them officially labeled under the Endangered Species Act the day the park went public," said Harry.

"What."

"Think about it Hermione, practically every dinosaur here is a clone, or the infant of a clone. Most people would automatically label them as 'assets' and not living beings. So we waited until the park went public and had every dinosaur we have on records and a few that haven't been released put under the ESA to keep people from trying to use them as simple property. Yes, we had to artificially create them, but that doesn't make them any less living, breathing animals. And if anyone asks, we can point out that we could use similar methods to bring back other species than just dinosaurs."

"Proof of concept," said Hermione.

"Huh?"

"You can claim the dinosaurs are your proof of concept. Specifically that it's possible to bring back other extinct species within reason."

"Like the Japanese Ibis, or the Dire Wolf."

"Yes to the first, absolutely not to the second."

* * *

For an opening day, Hammond could say with absolute honesty that it went spectacularly. Harry and Nick kept things going smoothly from the control room, while Hammond walked around and enjoyed the smiles on everyone's faces. Thanks to the press packet Harry's friend Colin made, which didn't go in depth how this was all possible, but still had the pertinent information, and the fact they had rounded up the 'extra' dinosaurs to form a census of the actual population on the island, the entire thing went off without a hitch.

Even the pessimistic Robert had nothing bad to say about their opening day.

Yes, there was still the glitch with the automated cars, but fortunately they had caught it before anyone arrived and had been able to switch fast enough to still hold the tour.

Harry had the idea of adding 'Observation' towers with plants so people could feed the taller herbivores like one would an unusual giraffe. Of course people would have to pay for the chance to go into them, but it would be part of the package deal. And the Brontosaurus was one of the easier to deal with animals...they didn't seem to mind humans that much.

Of course with all good things came the bad. Thankfully Harry didn't have to deal with that, as he would be in school once the people got over their awe of seeing _living_ dinosaurs and started talking about how it wasn't natural.

His friend Hermione had a rather intriguing idea to combat that. Cloning more recent animals to off-set the outcry of science creating life that had died long ago was a good way to shut up some of the louder idiots.

And to be honest, the idea of labeling dinosaurs as an "endangered species" to protect them had never occurred to him.

At least it kept the more military minded from being able to simply steal them and use them in war.

All in all, Hammond was quiet pleased with himself.

* * *

 _ **Jurassic Park! Fossils come back to life!**_

 _In a shocking move by eccentric philanthropist John Hammond, the mystery of the island chain by iNGen several years prior has finally been answered._

 _Hammond has done the impossible, and brought back honest to god dinosaurs...and has created a park for the public to come and enjoy their majesty. The United Nations has also agreed to place all the currently known species that Hammond has brought back under the Endangered Species Act, a rather bold move for the company. He has also hinted that there is a chance he would use the newly patented technology to bring back other extinct or endangered species within reason._

 _What most consider shocking is the identity of his mysterious partner and primary investor._

 _Harry James Potter, age fourteen, of England was at the unveiling of the park and is the primary expert Hammond consulted during construction. Mr. Potter is currently unavailable for comment, but has agreed to an interview in June._

 _Inside sources reveal Mr. Potter was behind most of the upgrades to the security around the animals, and was also behind most of the safety measures around the cages in case of an escape._

 _One can only guess what Hammond will do next, or what sort of impact Mr. Potter will have on the business world._

Harry framed the newspaper article with the others. He was quite proud of the fact he had been present for the official opening of Jurassic Park, and that everything had gone as planned.

He had received no less than twenty applications from muggleborns who were having trouble getting jobs asking if they could work as discreet security. He would have to vet them, but with the addition of magic, it made things easier if they had to capture any escapees and return them to their paddocks unharmed.

Harry would have made up his investment three times over once he got out of school, provided nothing happened in the interim. The goblins were very pleased with this turn of events, as they had originally deemed the park a potential money pit considering it had been delayed twice.

Not that they particularly cared what a wizard did, but it was nice to _know_ that there would eventually be a sustainable profit.

Which brought him to his next profitable idea.

Fred and George's prank shop.

The park would bring him money in the normal world...but he needed galleons to regain what he lost converting all those bars into pounds, and then into dollars. And to do that he needed a venture he felt certain would bring success.

Personally he wished he could have seen Vernon's face when he read the news article for the _London Times,_ which Harry knew for a fact he got. As did most of his neighbors. The fact Harry was clearly displayed _next_ to Hammond cutting the ribbon was icing on the cake.

In fact...

"Dobby!"

"Did Harry Potter sirs call for Dobby?"

"Did you get the observational orb I handed you in place before the article came out?"

"Yes, Harry Potter sir!" said Dobby, nodding so fast his ears were flopping around.

"Could you please retrieve it so I can review the tapes?" asked Harry. He was going to share this moment with Sirius and Remus.

Dobby disappeared and returned in five minutes. He'd had to avoid an angry Vernon from seeing him, and he was rather close to where he had hidden the orb.

"So what's this about Pup?"

"Wanted to see Vernon's reaction to the article. The lies they told about me for years are about to come crashing down on their heads," said Harry vindictively.

It had been recording since six that morning, and it was already dinner time.

If he was lucky, some of the neighbors would have come by to confirm it _was_ the same "delinquent nephew" in the paper next to the eccentric businessman.

Payback was a bitch and Harry was about to collect ten years of hell with interest. Talon only stopped the bullshit they pulled, this would ruin them and they had only themselves to blame.

Sirius and Remus watched the orb (it could be viewed by dumping it into a bowl almost identical to a normal pensieve) and within minutes they were both laughing.

"They shouldn't have pissed off karma, and now the truth is about to come back and bite them in the ass," said Harry evilly.

It only got better as people started recognizing Harry from the photo and the fact they _named_ him in the article as the financial backer for the park. They started to visit Petunia in _droves_ eager to gossip about this new tidbit, to her horror.

Suddenly the nephew they tried to disparage among the neighbors turned out to be very rich indeed, and likely coming from old money. Money Petunia was most definitely never getting her hands on now. As if that wasn't bad enough, his academic records were being poured over and once the initial shock of the fact he had clearly been abused was forgotten, people realized there had been a diamond in the rough hiding in Surrey.

Harry would grimace when he started reading the papers and how their investigation eventually revealed what they wrote as a tragic and cliché story of a noble lord hidden away with his not-so-pleased relatives.

Which meant there would eventually be vultures trying to get into his pants just to get at his money.

Joy.


	17. Chapter 17

Harry quickly grew bored out of his mind during the second task. To be fair, whoever came up with the idea of retrieving someone from the mermaids failed to take into account the fact that they wouldn't be able to _see_ anything past the murky waters of the lake.

There was a reason why it's name to both muggles and magicals was the "Black Lake" on the maps he'd been able to find. As a way to see if Hermione couldn't be convinced to give Nick a try, he had suggested seeing if they could figure out where Hogwarts was on a map.

Imagine their shock when they found out it _was_ listed...just as some out of the way ruins next to a quaint mountain village that was clearly labeled as "Hogsmeade". And that the lake was actually called Black Lake, just in Highland Scottish.

Harry cheerfully made the coordinates to the castle his new password, before wondering if he should warn incoming muggleborns about the fact that Hogwarts _was_ listed on the map.

Might change their minds about attending.

To add insult to injury, when he borrowed a satellite that could take detailed images, he could actually SEE the castle in it's full glory, though from the angle and distance it appeared to be ruins on the screen. He could also catch glimpses of the centaurs, among other creatures, and of Hagrid walking to the Beauxbatons carriages, likely to meet up with Maxime. If that weren't enough, you could also very clearly see the massive ship on the lake, and if you squinted, Viktor Krum swimming on it.

His amusement about the lie of Hogwarts being "protected from muggles" didn't end there. When he typed the word Hogwarts, he got a message board that was full of half-bloods and muggleborns who were quite angry about the fact they had more or less been kicked out because of their blood status.

Needless to say they were all very surprised when Harry signed on as the "Boy-Who-Lived" and told them he might have some jobs open to anyone who genuinely loved dragons or healers who didn't mind working with animals.

He had been sorting through the e-mails every since, and found that with a little tweaking...namely a few lightning runes on the battery pack in lieu of actual electricity...you could get a laptop to more or less work past the Hogwarts wards. Even if it was still a bulky thing, and it occasionally cut out, it made going through the applications of the magicals who had left out of anger towards Dumbledore's lies infinitely easier. Some had even been enterprising enough to become his penpals, having kept their owls or bought new ones.

Thank magic for the internet.

As an unintended consequence of accidentally locating no less than three hundred muggleborns, and a hundred-fifty half-bloods that had left, any hero worship Hermione had towards the Headmaster was shattered talking to some of the graduates.

If anything the blood bias had gotten _worse_ , not better since Voldemort had been more or less kicked off the mortal coil.

Because he had galvanized the current generation of pure bloods into actually _focusing_ on those who didn't automatically come from the already dangerously taxed magical bloodlines.

Fortunately Harry had a solution to that.

Let them breed themselves out, and then they could come back and pick up the pieces. After all, it was much harder to deal with a fully trained force of over four hundred wizards and witches who weren't about to leave a second time, than it was to defend against a smattering of less than fifty witches and wizards, some defending their children.

A fact he had made sure to remind the people he spoke to...some of which had started remembering their old spells and brushing up on their casting again.

If and when the purebloods decided to do something stupid, Harry would have an _army_ of volunteers ready to repay the pure bloods for the crap they'd had to deal with in spades.

Dumbledore wouldn't like it, the hypocrite, but if asked Harry would state flatly he had brought it on himself by not curbing the pure bloods sooner.

He did warn Amelia though, as a courtesy.

* * *

Susan was the one who found him, and alerted him that the hour was almost up. He had been discussing the differences in meat and the reactions dragons had to it while waiting. While the dragons had been sent back long before now, Charlie had been intrigued by the park Harry was part owner of. After seeing "Godzilla" and finding out there was a full sized tyrannosaur in the park he had affectionately named Rexy as a joke, and the raptors, he had been curious if this Hammond would be open to creating a sanctuary to the dragons similar to the park dedicated to teaching wizard children about them rather than keeping them penned by spells.

He generally avoided being part of the culling if he could swing it, and after the first five years his colleagues agreed to keep him off the roster unless they needed an extra wand. Especially since Charlie generally took the less pleasant duties willingly in exchange for a full month.

Harry sighed, and went to watch the spectacle. He used a generous helping of his elbow to get to the front close to the lake.

As an unintended consequence, he ended up being the one to hurry Fleur's younger sister Gabrielle to the healer to warm up, as the poor girl had been the lone 'hostage' that had been kept the full time because Fleur hadn't known there were Grindylows in the lake.

If that wasn't headache enough, the second Fleur discovered Harry was more or less immune to the Veela allure, it caused her to start showing up around the fence line hoping to speak with him.

It could have gone better.

Apparently his instinctive reaction to the veela of impress or maim wasn't restricted to him.

* * *

The first time Fleur saw Talia, she had dismissed her as a threat. The first time she saw Talon, she instinctively knew to avoid the creature, and not because she felt threatened by the intelligent gaze.

She had not put the fact that they were one and the same together until Talon hissed at her, before shifting into Talia.

Suddenly the talk about Potter and his familiars that he generally used as fan girl repellent came to mind.

They weren't tame, not by a long shot, but watching Talia's actions around Harry clearly stated she saw him as the definitive leader of the pack.

Potter was either able to shrug off her allure...or something else was going on.

"Did you know the muggleborns that graduate Beauxbatons speak better about their former school and the headmistress than the ones who graduate Hogwarts or the odd Durmstrang muggleborn do?"

Fleur blinked.

"What?"

"Apparently Madam Maxime doesn't pretty up the lie that muggleborns have an equal chance in the magical society, and tells them flat out that due to the current political climate that they would be better off focusing on the muggle curriculum offered by the school than try their luck in Europe. As such most of them are able to move on to better jobs and schools after they graduate, and they speak highly of her for at least giving them the unvarnished truth instead of lying like Dumbledore does. And the less said about the hell the muggleborn have to deal with in Durmstrang, the better."

She hadn't expected that.

"How do you know this?"

"Muggles have something called the internet. So on a lark I entered the name Hogwarts and accidentally found the muggleborns who left. From there it took little time to find the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. Your school was quite impressive by the way. French Alps, correct?"

Fleur's eyes went wide.

"How could you possibly know that?!"

"You might be impossible to spot from land and from flying air craft, but it's not invisible from satellite. And the wards don't exactly cover past the atmosphere," said Harry flatly, reaching into his bag pulling out what were clearly pictures.

Fleur looked at them, then at him in absolute shock.

"Again, it was mostly curiosity and knowing where to look. And I have serious doubts you'd be able to construct a ward powerful enough to hide from a surveillance satellite."

Harry had done the same to Krum, and the chaos he left in his wake had been hilarious. Finding out their schools weren't so hidden from the muggles had been fun, seeing his expression when he pointed Krum out in the Black Lake swimming had been even funnier.

The best part was that they could do nothing about it. Harry could literally walk into their schools and they'd be unable to stop him.

Hermione was already debating on whether to change schools, if only to get away from Talon. Especially after learning Maxime at least allowed muggle subjects.

Harry had already directed her to the message boards, and seeing her pretty illusions crushed had been a difficult, but very necessary step.

Fortunately Colin and Dennis already had their futures more or less secured. Colin would be the official photographer of the dinosaurs and Dennis would at least have a decent chance at whatever college he applied himself to.

Which was why Harry had _discreetly_ spread the news about the message boards and what the internet address was for it. If Hogwarts didn't suddenly find a lack of muggleborns within the next year, Harry would eat his old broom.

"Why are you immune to the allure?" asked Fleur, getting over her shock.

"I'm not. I just have conflicting reactions to it. Part of me wants to 'impress' you because I'm male, but the other half which I believe belongs to my animagus side wants to maim you for trying to establish a false dominance. Because they're so radically different, it makes it easier to ignore it completely, so long as I keep a balance between them," he answered honestly.

Fleur eyed Talon and Sickle warily.

"I must admit, being this close to our ancient foes is...disquieting."

"Be glad the killer pack was locked up the second we identified that they couldn't be controlled," said Harry with a straight face.

"What."

"In the park I partially own, there are three more. The idiot who bred them made an Alpha without realizing that the extra bit made it ten times more dangerous, and when it was introduced it forcibly established dominance. So we had to remove them to an area they could live, but not cause any harm and put multiple guards around it to keep them from ever escaping. Anyone stupid enough to stick their hand through the bars deserves to be eaten," said Harry flatly.

The bars were open enough that a man could stick his arm through, but not enough that the raptors could get their mouths through. Sure, there was the risk of them sticking their 'arms' through the opening, but considering said openings were at the top of the cage and the concrete was two feet thick with steel reinforcement, they'd be more focused on avoiding gravity than going after someone. And anyone stupid enough to walk on the top of the cage or climb to the top where the opening was deserved whatever happened to them.

And if they managed to evade the automated gun turrets, well, it wasn't his problem. They had made that the most secure area of the island for a _reason_.

Considering Hammond had seen Talon and Sickle stalk Muldoon and successfully lead him into a trap ten times without fail, he wasn't about to complain about the security.

He wasn't about to let creatures that intelligent with a natural advantage out of their paddock without a very damn good reason. At least Harry's option more or less left them in peace without having to kill them for being too dangerous.

* * *

The repercussions of Harry having actual _photos_ of the rival schools started a bit of a stir among the pure bloods. Particularly with Karkaroff.

Eventually some idiot brought the Ministry in. Thankfully the one sent was Amelia Bones.

"So what exactly is the issue that I have photos of Beauxbatons, Hogwarts, and Durmstrang?" asked Harry, not understanding the problem.

"It's because you said you took them using _muggle_ methods we cannot block. The fact that muggles have the ability to see our schools without the wards shielding them is disturbing to us," she patiently explained.

"Oh. Guess it's a good thing I neglected to mention I borrowed a military grade satellite to get them then."

"What."

"Well Hammond had some military contracts who wanted to look at creatures like Talon and Sickle, and I agreed to introduce them to the other pack of raptors in exchange for playing with their satellite surveillance system for a few hours. They had the most advanced ones I could borrow, and it just meant I tied up their system for a bit. They have no idea what the schools are, and most of them assume they're ruins or some wealthy idiot living apart from society."

Left unspoken was the fact that he planned to introduce them to the killer raptors, who hated humans, and not Talon or Sickle. He didn't want to _encourage_ the idea of training raptors as weapons. That way could only end in disaster.

Hammond had been present, and when Harry explained his reasoning he had been unhappy but agreed it was better to do this now while things were so new rather than let the more violent minded part of their society get ideas.

"Are you suggesting the muggle military could order a strike on Hogwarts, and we could do nothing about it?"

"Suggesting? No. I'm telling you outright that the only reason they haven't targeted you is because you haven't become a _threat_ just yet. And if this doesn't get the pure bloods to realize they had better shape up, I'm not above organizing a revolution by bringing back all the muggleborns you threw out because of their blood status. Quite a few of them harbor a grudge because people like Lucius Malfoy treated them like trash."

Bones took one look in his eyes, and realized he was being absolutely serious. Unfortunately Fudge would never listen to reason, and if she tried to bring it up, he would bury his head in the sand or make things far, far worse.

"Could you possibly wait until I'm able to get those I trust out before you storm the place?"

"I'll give you a one week warning before I bring reality crashing down on your heads," said Harry.

"That's plenty. Thank you," said Bones honestly.

She hoped like hell Potter never became a Dark Lord. Their world might never recover, and he was _vindictive_.


	18. Chapter 18

Harry thought he might have been pushing the boundaries of the professor's patience when he took Talon and Sickle into the maze in order to play "Stalk" and "Seek".

Fortunately Maxime had the presence of mind to ask if Harry wouldn't mind playing the part of one of the obstacles in exchange for him playing in the maze. Finding out she was the only headmistress that was spoken highly of by her former muggleborn students had made her more reasonable than the other two. She even contacted some of her old students to confirm Harry's words.

Only to find out he had understated the sheer respect she had gained for at least being brutally honest to her former students.

Dumbledore and Karkaroff were always spoken of with contempt, it not outright hatred in the case of Karkaroff.

Harry would stalk the maze as "Godzilla" while Talon and Sickle had full permission to scare the crap out of the champions. Because of their ability to jump, they could literally terrifying the champions.

It was probably a good thing Harry was petitioning to take his OWL's early and to give home schooling a try.

He didn't think the teachers would be so...accepting...of his familiars once they saw what sort of monsters they had unleashed.

Harry's cackling when asked by the champions definitely didn't help.

No scratch that...it only made their apprehensions ten times worse.

On the plus side, he could literally move into the 'apartment' Hammond set aside for him on the island once his school year was over.

He wouldn't be far from Sirius or Remus, but it made it easier for him to jump right into his studies of the dinosaurs and making sure they were healthy every morning. He had always been independent...this just made it official.

* * *

Harry cheerfully waved at the champions, before dashing into the maze and turning into Godzilla. He let off a roar that the raptors joined in, and then went about stalking. He was going to have _fun_...especially since he wasn't actually IN his tyrannosaur form, but that of the Indominus Rex.

The camouflage was going to serve him in good stead as he scared the living shit out of everyone.

Nearby the raptors were situating themselves and waiting for the signal. They weren't allowed to eat the champions, but 'playing' with them the way they originally had with the twins was something they could do just as easily.

The first cannon went off, and the maze opened.

Harry gave a fanged grin. Time for some fun.

Cedric was cursing the fact that the judges allowed Harry to act as one of the obstacles. Didn't they know encouraging Potter was a _bad_ idea?!

He heard something, and stopped cold. He fortunately knew better than to run...Talon had made it clear she viewed anyone stupid enough to do so without Harry around as "prey" and even said as much when she turned into Talia.

Thankfully for his sanity, it was only Fleur.

"Thank Merlin. For a minute I thought you were..."

A low growl cut him off, and h turned to find...Sickle.

"Fuck."

Fleur looked ready to cast, but Cedric was quick to warn her.

"Don't! They've been trained to go after anyone stupid enough to hex them as enemies! Just back away slowly and hope like hell Talon isn't nearby!"

Slowly, very, very slowly they backed away.

Only to bump into something solid and invisible.

A loud roar confirmed Cedric's fear...and gave him a sense of relief. Potter wouldn't let his raptor kill them after all.

"RUN!"

They hauled ass, even going so far as to crash through the hedge without hesitation. Sure they got scratched up good, but it was better than being close to Potter and his pets.

Hearing the loud thudding of Harry running, Cedric cast a cleaning spell on himself. He wasn't ashamed to admit that facing a speculative Sickle without Harry around scared the shit out of him. Thank Merlin he knew the warnings Harry always gave at the start of each year when new students found out about Talon and Sickle.

As if it wasn't bad enough running into Sickle like that, he quickly found that the raptors could _jump_. And more importantly they would jump onto the hedges themselves and run along them before jumping down to scare whatever poor bastard happened to be nearby.

The stress of running into the two demons was too much for Fleur.

She cried tears of relief, as the two raptors took unholy pleasure in stalking her. Fortunately they left her alone long enough to at least calm down, but it was clear Potter wasn't inclined to tell them to stop.

She cursed the fact that none of the judges had thought to tell Potter his familiars weren't allowed to run on the hedges, and would have hexed them all outright if Maxime hadn't taken her aside.

Occasionally Potter would stick his head up and roar, and the raptors would join him long enough to chase a champion for an entire section before they passed them and let them continue in peace.

Sometimes the raptors would even balance themselves easily on Potter's back before jumping off.

Suddenly the hedges slammed down right at the same time two identical flares of red went up on the opposite side of where the cup was.

The cup and Potter were nowhere to be found, but Cedric had clearly been attacked by an Imperius'd Viktor Krum, who was only now coming out of it.

* * *

Dammit! If he had known putting that stupid cup back on the pedestal would have done this, he would have left it on the ground! Who the hell was stupid enough to make the dumb thing into a portkey!?

The judges all KNEW the hedges would go down the moment someone picked up the cup, so who did it?

At least he was in his Indominus Rex form, and invisible to the naked eye in the dark. And his raptors were right there with him.

Quietly, he switched to raptor form himself, and they stalked the area they were in.

"Wormtail! Where are they?!" demanded a furious voice.

 _Wormtail? There's no way..._ thought Harry angrily as he lightly tapped his claw on the rock. Too low to hear, and easy to mistake. They were on the hunt.

"I don't know Master! The portkey activated, but there was no one there! Someone _must_ have picked it up!" said a terrified Peter Pettigrew.

So it was Pettigrew. Harry's grin was more than a little vicious.

Time for the hunt.

Harry lifted his head and set off a series of clear barks that he had learned instinctively the moment he first became a raptor. His form was bigger than Talon or Sickle, so they banked off his left and right and hid in the underbrush.

Peter suddenly turned to the noise, saw Harry, and looked terrified at his evil grin. He drew his wand, but Peter didn't stand a chance.

Harry had given a signal the raptors had waited a long time to hear...and if nothing else he would happily dump the traitor in the paddock with the other raptor pack. It would serve the cowardly bastard right.

With Peter's attention on Harry, he chased the boy into the forest.

Well, Sirius and Remus had never claimed Peter was intelligent. And he didn't know a _thing_ about how raptors hunted.

Harry toyed with Peter, waiting until the idiot got himself into position...before he let off a low growl that had Talon and Sickle drop from their position above.

His screams lasted quite a while, but Harry didn't feel anything about essentially killing a man.

His animal instincts at the forefront, Harry stalked towards where the second voice had been.

Apparently the second voice was something that looked like some sort of twisted infant, but Harry would bet sickles to galleons that it wasn't one.

He shifted to get a better look, but was stunned from behind by a third party.

The raptors stayed hidden. They knew better than to reveal themselves to their prey when the Alpha wasn't there to command them.

So. Someone claiming to be Voldemort had used his blood in a foul ritual.

Strangely, when 'Voldemort' made skin contact he screamed like the damned.

Apparently his mother _did_ leave protections around him, fancy that.

But this idiot made a mistake by letting Harry go from the statue.

Harry had no reason to keep them alive. The second he had his wand, he started casting as many vicious spells he knew without preamble.

The former muggleborns had been a well of information when he asked.

And if that wasn't enough, Talon and Sickle were doing their part by spreading the confusion. Their sleek, gray forms blended in with the gravestones a little too well.

In the span of minutes, Harry and his familiars made their way back to the portkey. Looking at the moon, he realized the entire thing took only three hours.

This was going to be a headache.

* * *

The second Harry came back, the first thing he did was set off the same explosion McGonagall favored to get the attention of an unruly class.

Everyone quieted down, mostly because Talon and Sickle were _growling_ and looking hungry.

Minister Fudge and Madam Bones appeared, as did the headmasters/mistress.

"Mr. Potter, care to explain what happened?" asked Bones.

Harry turned his wand to himself and immediately made a wizard's oath in front of them all, so they would take him seriously. He wasn't an idiot, after all.

"Someone turned the goblet into a portkey, and since I knew something was wrong I went to investigate. The _only_ reason I touched the stupid thing was because I knocked it off the pedestal with my tail by accident. I was about to put it back when the thing activated, with my familiars still on my back. There I ran into Pettigrew who attacked me on sight. I went looking for the portkey when I was stunned from behind and someone deliberately cut me to use in a ritual."

He showed them the still bleeding cut, and it was clearly made by a common ritual knife.

"Someone claiming to be Voldemort tried to duel me, except I caught him by surprise and got back to the goblet."

"You can't honestly be claiming You-Know-Who is back!" said Fudge, blustering.

"I said he claimed to be Voldemort. I have no idea what the Dark Lord looks like, since the only time I've encountered him was as an infant, and for all I know he was a former Death Eater who decided to use his Master's name to spread fear. If it was him, then there's no way I could have reasonably confirmed that," said Harry flatly, emphasizing that he couldn't tell if it was him or not, just that he _claimed_ to be him.

Fudge, a master of double speak, seemed to calm down considerably when he realized Potter wasn't saying the Dark Lord was actually back.

"I'd be willing to share my memories to confirm whether or not it was him, as like I said, I have never encountered the man personally except as an infant. And no one could possibly remember someone at that age."

It also meant Fudge couldn't come after him if he shared it with most of the Wizangamot, because they would have confirmed it for themselves.

Harry trusted politicians as far as he could throw them while not in Godzilla form. And he wasn't about to share the fate of Pettigrew.

* * *

An emergency Wizangamot session was held, primarily because the heir (and much favored savior at the moment) had been kidnapped entirely on accident, and several prominent heads were demanding reparations for what Harry's familiars had done to them.

Rufus Scrimgour, former head of the DMLE before he became a career politician and known neutral party, came in and removed the first memory to confirm they hadn't been tampered with in any way. This was after they tested to make sure it _was_ Harry in the court room, where he emphatically stated he was not making any claims, only presenting evidence against wrongdoing for his familiars.

The memory Scrimgour chose was an innocent one. That of Harry instructing a class in Hagrid's place since he was busy tending a sick animal.

That done, he removed the memory in question and played it for the court.

Harry was glad he had modified the ear muffs for his familiars. That level of noise would have made them antsy, to say the least.

Madam Bones shot off the same spell Harry used two days before.

"Quiet!" she barked. Blessed silence came over the courtroom. "Rufus, have these memories been confirmed accurate?"

"The boy didn't modify or embellish them," he replied immediately.

Harry was quick to remind them he was there as well. And show off some of the charm Sirius had shoved down his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Wizangamot, I would like to remind you that I did not come here to startle or offend any of you with wild claims that the Dark Lord has returned. I was only an infant when I supposedly 'vanquished' him, and I can hardly be called on to remember what the man looked like at such a young age. I have also never bothered to look him up, since I have found it distasteful to remember the heroic end of my parents trying to save me from such a monster. I merely came here to confirm my familiars only acted in defense of themselves and of their master," said Harry politely.

Bones mouth twitched upward, but she hid it well. Harry knew how to play a crowd, alright.

"All in favor of overlooking the 'claims' against Mr. Potter and his familiars?" she asked.

The response was immediate. No charges would be filed for the events of the graveyard. For Harry or his familiars.

"All in favor of at least investigating whether this ritual did occur?"

This time the votes were split. In the end the Unspeakables were given the go ahead to look and investigate, but not to act on the information until the Minister had cleared it.

They didn't want to confirm that it _was_ Voldemort they saw, and Harry had made it clear he didn't know if it had been him or someone pretending to be him in that graveyard.

* * *

 **Okay, I would like to get it out before I hear angry reviews that Harry should have recognized Voldemort.**

 **Harry has never had a DIRECT confrontation with the Dark Lord until now, and because he had little interest in the yearly adventures, he had no reason to look it up. The fact he also made it very clear he wasn't claiming anything means Fudge isn't going to be slandering his name so much next year, but I might have Umbitch have a go at him anyway.**

 **Dumbledore's star is on the fall, and it's only going to get worse as people start looking into him more closely since Harry made that comparison earlier.**


	19. Chapter 19

Harry was eagerly waiting for his third (and final) egg from Hammond to hatch. It was part of his "payment" for helping make the park a reality and insuring it _stayed_ open. Thanks to his raptors, most of the predators left him alone, and the herbivores ignored him to begin with. Well, that and he mostly _avoided_ Rexy's cage on purpose.

Thanks to the distance and the fact he had only been there to clear his familiars, the Ministry more or less left him alone for the summer. Sure, the papers were being torn between believing the dark lord _might_ be back, and hoping he wasn't.

Fudge couldn't really go after Potter for sharing his memories when he made it clear he claimed ignorance.

Then the cracking finally started. Harry kept his eyes firmly on the egg until he spotted the best spot Scythe would be coming out of.

Like Talon and Sickle before her, Scythe's first sight when she hatched into the world was that of Harry's green eye. The fact he had shifted into his raptor form only made the recognition stronger.

With the bond fully settled, Scythe sniffed him thoroughly before she curled around the other raptors, accepting her place in Harry's pack.

She displayed some minor confusion when faced with his human form, but after seeing Talon shift into Talia and back, her natural intelligence shown through and she understood.

She wouldn't be allowed to leave the 'apartment', which was really a makeshift house hidden from overt view of the visitor center near where the original raptor paddock had been and set in the trees themselves, but Sickle would stay behind to teach Scythe everything she would need to know about being part of the pack.

Hammond was already scheduling the replacement raptors for next month. Preferably with the new hires Harry had made over the past week acting as their bonded in order to prevent a repeat of what happened to the original pack.

Two former aurors and one semi-retired dragon keeper were eager for familiars that could rip apart self-righteous pure bloods. In the name of security only, of course.

Once the raptors were old enough, they'd be allowed out of the paddock where Harry would be training the other magicals.

In a sense, they were now part of the 'pack' and Harry remained the alpha.

Harry disliked the military men they sent on principle, and in no small part because of the fact that Talia barely refrained from switching back to Talon to rip him into pieces.

She was acting the part of Harry's "girlfriend" and fan girl repellent. No one wanted to challenge the terrifying girl who had very sharp teeth.

The man looked at the island and the creatures on it with undisguised greed, only making Harry's dislike of him greater. He didn't like Hoskins, or his arrogant son Vic. Both of them gave him the vibe of a bully.

Still, the fastest way to deal with these idiots was to show them the raptors...and then throw in their human analog who just _happened_ to look like Dennis Nedry, the programmer who nearly ruined the park before it had even had a chance to open.

Hammond hadn't looked vindictive about the whole incident, but he hadn't said a word about the analog which was filled with pork for the raptors to rip into. Especially after Harry informed him what he was going to use it for. As far as the military was concerned, the thing was held up by fishing line and not a spell to move.

Harry didn't show any hesitation...he lead Hoskins and his son straight to the pen, illustrating the defenses around it.

"Why so much on one pen?"

"Velociraptors are more intelligent than most humans I know. I'd rather go overkill on a single pen holding the Alpha than even skimp on a single detail and risk the chance they get out."

"If they're so dangerous, then why risk keeping them alive?" said Vic innocently.

"It shuts the hippies up that we don't care about the animals and we're only in this for a profit. Instead of destroying them outright when we realized Wu had been stupid enough to breed an Alpha raptor, we knocked them out and put them in here where they could live relatively comfortably without worrying of them getting out."

They walked up to the "viewing platform" which had the best vantage point, and he sent the text to bring in the food for the day.

A large metal crate that had three wild pigs was driven up, and then quickly lowered into the cage. Harry pressed a button, and the cage flipped open just long enough for the pigs to get out, and then it was removed without much fuss.

The wild pigs were imported from Texas, oddly enough. They were a problem because they weren't an indigenous species and were wrecking havoc on the ecosystem there. It was actually cheaper to pay trappers to catch the wild pigs than it was to pay farmers to import theirs.

Plus they were meaner than the farm bred pigs, so the raptors could have a proper hunt.

"Wild pig?" said Vic, curious.

"Meaner, cheaper, and the raptors have to hunt their food instead of just eating it. It made them easier to deal with, but I wouldn't get in that cage even if you paid me all the money in the world," said Harry.

The Alpha eyed Harry up on the top of the cage, but went back to her food.

The two had long since come to a truce, once she realized it would be beyond difficult to escape. The paddock was her territory, and Harry would allow her to rule her pack in peace. Shortly after they came to that understanding, he started sending in wild pigs instead of cows or goats.

Wild pigs were more fun to hunt, and much more satisfying. They allowed her to get her predator instincts out without having to worry about the prey escaping. Food always tasted better after hunting it.

Above, Vic was watching the attack with undisguised fascination... and if Harry were any judge, hidden lust. He got off on the visceral nature of the raptors and their killing methods. Watching them rip into animals to eat them was a turn on.

"Are these assets trainable?"

"Alphas lead the pack, and I've never seen one submit to another alpha. They're more likely to kill you for the presumption. It's like lions. When a younger, more powerful male appears, the old one will either chase the interloper out or kill him. It's the same with raptors. The second the Alpha was introduced she killed all but two of them, and they follow her lead without question."

"So it is possible to train them," said General Hoskins.

"Possible, but difficult enough that anyone who wants to train a raptor better be ready for a lifetime commitment. They don't accept being handed over to a new alpha and they won't take abuse from humans like domestic beasts. Either you dedicate yourself completely to the raptor and take care of it like you would a treasured pet, or it'll kill you. And you have to respect it like you would a tiger or a lion," said Harry flatly.

General Hoskins looked at Harry, and where there had been contempt there was now a clear sign of respect.

Harry lowered the human mock-up, and made it look like he was manipulating it with strings. Alice (Alpha) played along...right before they started ripping into the doll to get at the meat.

Harry had given them names, mostly because it would make it easier for people to identify with the animals, and not see them as mindless killers. They could be reasoned with...they just didn't care.

The Alpha he named Alice. The beta was Beth and the third and smallest was Chelsea.

Vic's fascination with the way raptors killed was obvious now.

"May I ask who you based that doll off of?"

"The former head programmer, Nedry. Hammond didn't seem to mind much."

The General snorted.

He wouldn't mind much either, watching a mock-up of someone who had screwed the pooch that thoroughly ripped apart.

"How did it go?"

"Well I think I dissuaded the general of attempting to use raptors as a viable attack troop...but I did agreed to sell them dilophosaur venom," said Harry.

Hammond was clearly uncomfortable about that.

"We don't really use the venom we've been washing off the windows, and the most they could do with it is use the stuff as a new paralytic agent."

It was hard to dispute that. Hammond still didn't like it.

"They're giving us a generous payment for the venom, and since it'll be diluted because we wash it off the window they'll have to use more of it. Besides, we can give them a discount if they can give us an anti-venom for it," said Harry cheerfully. "It'll still be a civilian company, but we can make up some of the money we lost by selling something relatively harmless."

Much to Hammond's dismay, his board agreed with Harry. As long as they weren't given dinosaurs to the military as weapons, he could live with selling venom and other by products of the dinosaurs.

"And of course there's the teeth we've been collecting to sell at the gift shop," said Harry.

"What teeth?"

"Hermione's parents are dentists. I gave them the chance to look at the dinosaurs, and it turns out some of them lose their teeth like humans do. So far reviews have been positive for people buying genuine dinosaur teeth."

Harry didn't really care about the money. He mostly cared about making people love the dinosaurs.

That was probably the main reason why Hammond took it in stride that Harry was showing some initiative.

"So how is Scythe?"

"She's fitting into the pack quite nicely. I imagine the teachers won't be too pleased that I've gotten a third one, but I'm confident they'll ignore her presence the same way they have Talon and Sickle."

"I am curious as to how you came up with such odd names."

"Talon came from the claw on the middle toe. Because I was the only one that recognized her for what she was, the man who originally won her agreed it was a better name than Norbert. Sickle and Scythe were named after the farming implements."

He only wanted two more because three was a big enough pack...and because it would have gotten harder to come up with a name after he ran out of sharp curved weapons.

"Which reminds me... I'm going to be doing another census of the herbivores again since we still haven't figured out which of them have adapted into males yet."

Hammond withheld a grimace. The realization some of the dinosaurs had 'shifted' for lack of a better term, into males, had come as a nasty surprise.

Fortunately it looked like none of the raptors had made that change, or Wu had the intelligence not to add that particular frog into their DNA.

And they had only bred one T-Rex.

It seemed that for the moment, the only ones that had adapted in that way had been the herbivores.

Hammond didn't like it, but as long as none of the carnivores got loose and bred, it was fine to leave things as they were.

One of Harry's "duties" was to do a weekly census to try and figure out which ones had changed, which ones were pregnant, and where their nests were located. Muldoon would be helping, along with the vets Hammond had managed to hire.

The dragon tamers were going to be his carnivore experts, but they all fell under the lead of Harry for obvious reasons.

For now, Hammond was going to ease Harry into becoming the sole owner of the park.

Harry was quite easily the most responsible fifteen year old he had ever met.

"You know Lex will be visiting the park again next week," said Hammond slyly.

He wasn't above setting his granddaughter and his partner up.

Talia sized up Lex, Hammond's granddaughter, and while she didn't reject her outright, it was clear she was holding her reservations toward her.

It was still better than how she reacted to Ginny.

"So you're a vegetarian?"

"I visited a slaughterhouse when I was seven, and it really bothered me looking at their dead eyes..." shuddered Lex.

"Yeah...the eyes always seem to stick with you when you're not used to it," agreed Harry. Which was why he always left the head to the raptors, the few times he killed something in his animagus form.

"So are you aware Grandpa is trying to set us up?"

"We're still teenagers. Personally I'd rather wait a few years before I seriously commit to anything outside my raptor pack, especially since I just added Scythe."

"Is it true you taught them Morse Code?"

"Can you think of an easier way to talk to a raptor without trying to mimic their vocal patterns?" said Harry, raising an eyebrow.

"True."

However it was when they were inside the control center that Harry realized Hammond's "plan" was going to fail spectacularly.

Lex was clearly more interested in Nick than she was in him, not that he cared overly much. They had more in common, and Nick wasn't immediately turned off by the fact Lex was a vegetarian.

Still, he didn't see any reason why they couldn't be friends, since Talia didn't hate her.

Colin and Dennis were on the moon with how happy they were being in the park.

Their parents were just glad they got such a good discount on tickets to the island.

"Colin! Dennis! Glad you could make it! You're just in time to come watch us do a census of the herbivores!" said Harry.

Harry had gotten a good tan from working with the animals. And they had gotten used to his scent, even if Talia and the others couldn't come twenty feet near them without them running the other direction.

"Harry!" said Colin.

"Hope you brought your cameras. Once you settle into your room I'm going to give you the personal tour of the island!" said Harry grinning.

Harry had recently been cleared by Muldoon to drive the jeeps that they used to give tours.

The "night tours" made use of the electric tracks Hammond had initially installed to do the tours, but they were rather impersonal. People responded much better to the 'day' tours because the guides could give personal tidbits about the animals that had people laughing.

There were a rather large number of people who loved the "Rexy Viewing Platform", which was set further down the paddock on a rocky plateau where she couldn't get that much speed to ram it. It was in an enclosed box so she couldn't smell the people inside, and it blended in so seamlessly that she couldn't see it very well.

And they made sure people knew the feeding schedule and that it wasn't suitable for children under ten.

 _Twenty minutes later..._

"And this is the dilophosaur pens. They're rather cranky, so don't be surprised if they try to spray us with their toxin. Just to be safe, keep the windows up. We have thick glass in front of the electric fencing that gets washed every fifteen to twenty minutes and collects the toxin they spray. It's high enough that they can't jump it, but low enough that we can take a squeegee to the glass if we use a ladder and Hazmat suits," said Harry. He peered past the glass. "Ah, it looks like Bob is going to greet us today."

"Bob?" said Mr. Creevey. You could tell he was amused.

"Bob," said Harry solemnly. "We try to name all the dinosaurs in the park. For example the raptors, which are in a restricted area, are named Alice, Beth and Chelsea."

"Why are they in a restricted area?" asked Mrs. Creevey.

"Long story short, the head researcher accidentally bred an Alpha Raptor, which is ten times more vicious than normal. She killed all but two of the eight raptors and they were periodically testing the fences when the feeders came. So we had a second paddock built that was as escape proof as we could possibly make it, tranqed the three left, and moved them. Because of Alice, it was simply too dangerous to have them so close to the visitors center. We're hoping to repopulate the original paddock soon."

Colin thought of a raptor that was like Talon, only ten times more vicious and not bonded, and shivered. He could completely relate to Harry's decision.

They all watched "Bob" and sure enough he sprayed the window with some black tar-like substance. On queue the sprinklers activated and it drained down into a catch-basin.

"Next on the tour is the triceratops..." said Harry, once they drove past the carnivore pen.

Stopping by the electric fence, Harry slowed down.

"Their name is literally 'three-horn', and these are some of our easier to handle dinosaurs. Originally we were having issues with them getting sick once every month, until someone noticed that the rocks they ate to help digestion were too close to some poisonous plants. As it turned out, they were accidentally eating the berries with the rocks. Fortunately since we identified the problem, we've been able to inoculate them and the symptoms have become much more manageable. We're actually considering making a petting zoo where you can _ride_ the baby triceratops," said Harry. Then he turned and grinned at them all. "We're also going to have an observation tower where visitors can feed the taller brontosaurs like you would a giraffe."


	20. Chapter 20

Harry had a headache. It had nothing to do with the argument over whether You-Know-Who was back or not (thankfully they kept his name out of the paper after he made it clear he had no idea if that really _was_ him). It didn't have anything to do with the dinosaurs or the people suddenly trying to _invest_ on what they had called Hammond's crazy scheme.

No, it had everything to do with how stupid humans were.

Specifically the religious zealots who took offense to them playing god, and those who apparently had the time and money to waste harassing all the people who came to the island to enjoy the dinosaurs.

Bear in mind these same people were the kind of zealots who hated the gay community, girls who dared to have abortions, and mixed marriages.

In the words of Harry when Hammond questioned him about it, "They just wanted something to bitch about."

Harry could care less about the idiots on the boats. He generally didn't go that close to the edge of the island to begin with, and when he visited the mainland it was almost always flying in the helicopter, usually learning how to fly it by acting as co-pilot.

However they were starting to disrupt business.

Even with the restraining order on them, Hammond's patience with them was wearing thin.

Fortunately Harry had a way around that. And his name was Nick.

* * *

"You want me to _what_?" said Nick.

"I want you to steal their identities and make it look like they're doing something that might give their governments a reason to arrest them. If they're in jail, they're not our problem anymore."

"No I got that, I'm asking why you immediately came to me."

"You're the only decent hacker I know," replied Harry without hesitation.

Nick smirked.

"So how long do you want them to be arrested for?"

"I could care less about the money. I just want them to be unable to harass us anymore."

"This is going to be somewhat immoral and possibly illegal you know."

"Do I look like I actually care?" deadpanned Harry. "Either they are forced to leave and never come back, or I trick them into trespassing onto the other island and feed them to the Indominus Rex."

Nick paused, turned to look at Harry before saying "The _what?_ "

As head programmer, Nick was intimately familiar with all the dinosaurs in the park, and some that hadn't been transferred into it. Indominus Rex was not one of them.

"You know how Rexy always reacts weird when I'm around, and never has to be coaxed to come closer to the fence?"

"Okay, I'll bite. Why does she always come when you're the tour guide?"

Harry grinned evilly. Nick gulped. The last time he grinned like that, Wu woke up smelling of T-Rex piss after taking an ill-advised nap when it was known Harry was bored. It took him a _week_ before he gave up on trying to get the smell out. It took two before it finally wore off.

No one could figure out where the hell Harry got it, as cameras clearly showed he was no where near Rexy's cage, never mind going inside.

Nick watched as Harry went from human...

"DUDE! You can turn into a T-rex?!" said Nick.

Harry gave him a fanged grin.

"That is so awesome!"

Harry switched back.

"It gets better. I can turn into a raptor too. Of course they aren't my primary animagus form."

"Wait, what is your primary form?"

This time Harry shifted into something Nick had never seen before. It had all the size and power of a T-rex, but in looks it more closely resembled a raptor. A big-ass raptor that could do more than just run you down.

"Oh dear god. That is utterly horrifying," said Nick honestly. It was like the unholy love child of Rexy and Talon. That was absolutely going to be the source of his nightmares tonight.

Harry changed back, amusement in his face.

"I blame Wu. He's the only one stupid enough to think combining Rexy and Talon together to make Indominus Rex. At least, according to Luna that's what it'll be called."

"Terrifying."

"It gets even better. I can go invisible, or close enough that it makes little difference. All the size and power of Rexy, with the intelligence of a raptor."

"Dude, you're scaring the shit out of me just by giving me such a detailed visual. I'd hate to even _think_ what going up against something like that would be like."

"Yes, well if those idiots on the boats don't shut up and leave, I might have to introduce them to Godzilla."

Nick's well justified terror short circuited the second he heard the name.

"Godzilla, really?"

"Sirius saw the movies, and it was the closest thing he could come up to a name for my animagus form. Sadly, the damn nickname stuck. At least it's better than _Padfoot_ ," said Harry grimacing. "I fear for any children that idiot has."

Nick snickered.

"Alright, alright. If only to avoid getting sued over the disappearance of idiots," said Nick.

"Why would we get sued if they step on the island they're legally obligated to avoid lest they get arrested anyway? If they just _happen_ to wander into a restricted area to get eaten by Alice and the others or walk past the guards, then how is that OUR problem?" said Harry innocently.

"You're a devious bastard, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Why thank you," said Harry with mock humility that didn't fool Nick for a minute.

* * *

Hammond looked at Harry suspiciously, but said nothing when he heard the news that every single idiot who had been harassing the island for a full month were suddenly arrested by their government and were now facing some serious charges. It didn't help that he could very well guess who was behind it, but when he asked Nick he found he really didn't want to know.

At least they had made sure it couldn't be traced back to them and didn't do anything that would harm the park long term.

And it definitely showed Hammond that Harry was a much better choice for his successor than his nephew was.

Harry respected the animals and treated them with the caution that they deserved, but was ruthless enough to survive the cutthroat world of business.

His nephew only saw the dinosaurs and his park as a toy, something to be discarded the moment it became a money pit, or to be sold to the highest bidder.

Considering he was getting on in years, and would soon have to step down, he wasn't ashamed to discreetly raise Harry to take his place.

It didn't help that Sirius had joined in on that, mostly giving Harry lessons on how to survive the pure blood nobility.

Ironically, Harry was better at it than Sirius was, due to one important fact.

Something that had Moony laughing his ass off whenever he saw Sirius pout.

Harry had actual tact, not to mention the patience of a saint and the ability to hold one hell of a grudge.

Remus had described it best, once he figured it out.

Harry was like a slow-timed bomb waiting to go off. He'd let a thousand minor things go, like insults and personal attacks, but the second you really pissed him off the count down began. Once it hit zero, you'd best watch out otherwise he'd turn you into a bloody heap. Either from spellwork or ripping you apart as Godzilla.

James had been the opposite, except when it came to Lily. Quick to anger, and equally fast to forgive...but if he thought you were after his girl he'd never let it go.

And this was _before_ he started dating her.

Aside from having to fine-tune his charm and teaching him the little rules, Harry was a shark in the water when it came to the magical nobility.

Case in point, when Sirius took him to what was a rather boring pure blood party hosted by the Longbottoms. Harry spent most of it either talking to Neville about some of the ancient plants he had been able to successfully bring back to life, or politely talking to the other pure bloods.

Harry was just glad when it was over. He felt more at home with the dinosaurs than he did pretending to be nice. At least Madam Longbottom had allowed him to bring Talia, as long as she stayed human.

* * *

Harry looked up when a paper was dropped onto his head.

"What's this?"

"Read it," said Sirius.

Harry unfurled the _Daily Prophet_ and blinked at the title.

" _Dumbledore's throne on the decline!"_ read Harry.

"You're assessment of Dumbledore being a king seems to have struck home."

" _'In a vote of no confidence after a thorough poll of the Wizangamot, Albus Dumbledore was removed from the office of Supreme Mugwump and as the head liaison for the International Confederation of Wizards. Augusta Longbottom, matriarch of the Longbottom family, has agreed to step in as the interim Supreme Mugwump. Sirius Black, head of the Black Family... is now the head liaison of the ICW for magical Britain.'_ "

"I blame you," said Sirius playfully.

Because Harry was more often _out_ of Britain than in it during the summer, Sirius had been exposed to several high-ranking officials from the magical communities.

So when it came time to discuss replacements, Sirius had been on the top of several lists...provided Remus was there to reign him in.

Eager to please, Fudge had agreed to it since he didn't actually _see_ Remus' name on the memo. It was one less thing he had to worry about.

As for Madam Longbottom...well people had seen how easily she had gained the favor of Harry during his brief foray into pure blood society, and the fact his familiar clearly stated she respected the woman as a fellow predator was more than enough to sway some of the neutrals.

It didn't hurt that she had never been a blind follower of Dumbledore, but she also respected pure blood beliefs, her obvious vendetta against the Lestrange trio notwithstanding.

That was a blood feud, and the pure bloods weren't about to condemn her for it.

"So what's the verdict on Neville's parents?"

Sirius became, well, serious.

"They're responding better to treatment. The hospital you found was discreet enough that Madam Longbottom was able to bribe them in, and the doctors said there was a high chance they could snap them out of it if they were given a trigger. Unfortunately it'll take time for them to find one that works."

"A trigger, huh?" said Harry.

"What are you thinking?"

"Everyone has a primordial part of the brain that automatically reacts to certain triggers. For example you understood that Talon and the others were 'dangerous' enough that you've never turned your back to them. You instinctively knew that they would rip you apart before you saw how they hunted. You _know_ that Rexy is a danger. It's something all humans develop an instinct for."

"So?"

"So what would happen if minds trapped in shock were confronted by a dangerous predator that was making every indication that they were about to stalk them as _prey_? They were trapped by pain...perhaps a little well justified primordial fear would snap them out enough that their training would have them going for their weapons," said Harry.

When Harry went back to England to get his school supplies, he ran into Neville and broached the topic with him and his grandmother.

It was worth a shot.

* * *

Frank and Alice were given fake wands and were holding them loosely. They recognized _what_ the sticks were, but couldn't cognitively realize that they were just hunks of wood.

Both of them were standing more or less, in a mock-up of a darkened alley.

Talon would approach the two and start off the 'attack'. If that didn't work, then the same instincts that had Draco fleeing despite knowing it was Harry would also get them to either fight or run from the sight of something so massive with sharp teeth barreling down on them.

Either way, they would either have a reaction.

The only reason Augusta went along with it was because there was no danger of them being eaten or harmed. And after seeing Godzilla, she was inclined to try and shock her son and daughter-in-law out of their current states.

Neville watched nervously from behind the spell-proof screen.

Talon slowly approached his parents, and started her growl. The one they assumed was Sickle joined her from above.

Watching as the raptor started to circle them, making a lot of threatening sounds that made even Neville want to run and never look back, despite knowing that he was safe behind the glass.

Alice showed the first signs of life. She had been more responsive compared to his father, then again they held Frank under longer.

She twitched, and started to grasp her 'wand' a little tighter. Her eyes started to show more life, more recognition.

When 'Sickle' started to join in on the sounds, Frank started to wake up too.

Then they vanished.

Godzilla didn't bother with the slow thuds that preceded the fast run towards his prey. He went straight for the roar, and took a running start.

What the raptors had started, his appearance and clear intent to kill finished.

Frank and Alice, spurred by fear brought about by Talon and 'Sickle' clearly there to kill and eat them snapped out of the shock that had trapped them for well over a decade. Seeing the visual aid of Harry's terrifying animagus form barreling down ready to rip them apart had their Auror instincts which had been trapped with them kick in full force. Rather than run, they tried to cast spells, only to curse when they realized their 'wands' were just sticks smoothed over to resemble them.

When Harry came up to them, he looked them in the eye, and they prepared to face their deaths...before the 'dragon' they immediately equated him as sniffed and turned.

Talon immediately jumped onto his back and they walked out of the area.

The lights came on, and the two aurors suddenly realized that the whole thing had been a set-up.

Needless to say they were shocked when Augusta came in with their now-grown son.

* * *

"That was hands down the most terrifying thing I've ever experience, and I knew they were safe the entire time," said Neville honestly later.

"Like I said, fear can trump pain if it's done right."

"What's PTSD though?"

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's common in soldiers coming home from war. We're raised to be civil and to avoid violence, so when people are exposed to extreme violence like a fire fight or sudden deaths of a friend during battle, it can remain with them for years, if not their entire life. It'll cause them to be depressed, suicidal and wake up screaming from night terrors. They'll be moody and angry, and won't understand why. PTSD is pretty nasty to deal with."

"How do we treat it?"

"Time, patience, and just being there. Like I said, they'll wake up with night terrors and possibly think they're back in the moment that traumatized them to begin with. If they start to slide back into that state, let me know and I'll give them something new to worry about...like a tyrannosaurus rex coming down on them ready to eat them," said Harry.

Remembered trauma versus a very visceral fear of something immediate...it was pretty obvious which would win out, especially when it was coupled with a predator who had _intelligence._


	21. Chapter 21

Harry took one look at the 'teacher' Fudge was trying to shove down their throats...and immediately wanted to gag.

"Hey Neville, I think Trevor's girlfriend is going to be our teacher this year," said Harry.

Neville looked as disgusted as Harry felt. Something about this... Delores Umbridge...made him want to rend her to pieces more than the Dursleys ever had.

The pink witch made Harry want vomit, and he was as far as physically possible from the woman while in the great hall. He really, _really_ didn't want to be in class with her.

Thank magic and all things dinosaur he had sat his O.W.L.'s earlier that summer.

It meant he could skip Defense and there would be nothing they could do about it. Plus it meant he got to avoid all the hassles of the pre-exam jitters.

Hermione had been annoyed beyond belief...right up until Harry handed her a date and time for her to take her own exams early along with Neville.

He had been a special case, since they wanted to avoid having another visit just to confirm his new pet was non-magical.

Though if he was reading this new woman correctly...he might have to schedule a 'visit' from Madam Bones to 'inspect' Scythe.

Something about Umbridge set him off, and it took a moment before he remembered where he had heard her name before.

She had been the one who gave him the worst vibes after the graveyard. The one who looked like she was only _waiting_ for a chance to discredit him. Unfortunately for her, he had walked into that room ready to deal with people like her. Sure, he had said things that made people doubt whether he had seen the Dark Lord at all, but he had done that to keep Malfoy from trying to ruin his word.

Fortunately he had walked out of that room with more allies than people ready and willing to ignore what he said. Fudge couldn't risk running a smear campaign when he won the pure bloods...his campaign contributors...over so easily.

Harry had more clout with them than the Minister did. And he _knew_ it. The fact he had deliberately shattered the controls Dumbledore put on him told the 'Dark' pure bloods that he wasn't another mindless sheep who followed the Headmaster. His familiars went a step further. Only someone who understood the nature of kill or be killed could contain such ravenous intent.

The 'Light' pure bloods had been on his side from the start for what he did as a child. Now they were firmly in his 'camp' for the fact he exposed Dumbledore openly and forced them to think for the first time in years.

They couldn't out the aged wizard from his post as Headmaster... not without concrete proof of negligence. And they couldn't put McGonagall in his place, because she was absolutely one of his people. It would just be replacing the puppeteer for his most influential puppet.

The muggleborns trusted him, there was no two ways about it. Harry was giving them a reason to remember their powers, and eventually he would give them a reason to fight back. They had been cast aside once...they would not walk away so quietly a second time. Harry had found a way to employ an almost all muggleborn and half-blood force on the islands, giving them hope.

As for the creatures...he had made it clear he didn't care whether you were a werewolf, vampire or goblin. So long as you treated him civilly he would reply in kind. Some of the packs had already migrated to Isla Sorna to act as caretakers, with the knowledge they could run around with the dinosaurs on full moons. Those electric fences could keep more than just the herbivores in.

One class, and Harry lead the way out of the door the second he found out Umbridge fully intended to make their education suffer in a pale attempt to undermine the headmaster.

If she was as vile as he suspected, then she wouldn't last one detention with him.

If she was redeemable, then maybe he would let her live. All he knew was that even his Indominus Rex form wouldn't be able to stomach eating the bitch.

* * *

Harry walked into that room without a single guess of what he would find. Of what would happen.

He thought Lockhart had been appalling. So much ego and narcissism...all for fame that he hadn't earned.

Umbridge was far worse. There were cute kitten plates that moved, and everywhere was a frilly hell. It was enough to make any boy gag, never mind someone like him. He tried and failed to think of a single girl he knew that would even _like_ this room. He had seen Madame Puddlefoot's, but that had been tasteful. The girlish nature of the place had at least been somewhat tolerable.

This was like someone had thrown up a five-year-old's princess castle, only to throw up again. It didn't speak well of Umbridge's mental state.

And when she handed him the quill, he knew.

The woman expected him to write lines with a blood quill, which was restricted to binding magical contracts only, and even then they were illegal for private use.

They most certainly weren't allowed to be used as _punishment_ for children.

Fortunately Harry knew exactly how to handle this.

He wrote the lines alright...but he immediately started rummaging through his trunk the moment he was back in his dorm for the two-way mirror Sirius had given him in the event he needed a way to communicate that wouldn't be intercepted as easily as a floo or owl post.

" _Hey pup, what's up?"_ said Sirius from where he was in the ICW 'house' that he had been given upon appointment. Next to him was a tired, if amused Remus.

"What's the punishment for owning an illegal blood quill and using it on a minor? Especially one to inherit a Wizangamot seat and is heir to an Ancient and Noble house?"

Sirius blinked, before he sat up.

" _That depends...is the one who owns this alleged quill a minor or an adult?"_

"Teacher."

Sirius smirked. It wasn't a nice smirk either...it was full of Black vengeance.

" _Well then allegedly said teacher would end up in Azkaban and their reputation destroyed for harming a child. What was the offense?"_

"She refused to teach us a damn thing, so I lead a mass outing for the class and she issued me an immediate detention, despite the fact that I have a get-out-of-class free card courtesy of the Ministry."

Sirius let off a bark of laughter.

" _That's my pup! I'll tell Amelia to make an 'inspection' of Scythe within the next week. Can't say when, so you won't be able to give it away. Make sure you write down the part about blood quills now in case the bitch has a curse on them to keep you quiet."_

"Make it clear that if she doesn't show up, then the new teacher is going to 'mysteriously' disappear. I'm not about to let whatever power she _has_ in the Ministry to let her skip out on her due."

" _Good riddance,"_ said Remus flatly. Seeing Harry's confusion, Remus gave him a small, sad smile. _"Delores Umbridge is the main force behind most of the anti-werewolf laws in England."_

"Then her death shall be slow, painful and likely at the hands of the ABC sisters if I don't get to her first," said Harry cheerfully.

ABC being the raptor trio that were permanently quarantined.

* * *

"Auntie!" said Susan happily. She was seeing her aunt a lot more than most students would their guardian while at school. And she didn't complain once.

"Susan! I'm here to perform an early inspection for Mr. Potter's new familiar," said Amelia easily. Susan frowned, but quickly schooled her expression. Clearly Harry had called her in for something else, but hadn't been able to tell them first.

Harry was waiting by the paddock, where Scythe, being just barely able to see over the fence peered at them all. He casually slipped the paper he had written before the curse took effect into Amelia's pocket, where she read it and destroyed it.

She would come back the next day for a surprise inspection of Delores Umbridge's quarters while she was in class. The pink clad woman was screaming profanity as she was dragged off under the charge of an illegal blood quill.

A quill that according to their scans had been used quite recently. She might have gotten off with a fine had it not been for that.

Dumbledore was sweating over the fact that he had to get another _new_ teacher so soon after the year started, and Fudge was in some very hot water for sending Umbridge to the school in the first place.

Especially since the blood was revealed to be Potter's.

Eventually someone came forward as a solution everyone could live with. From an unexpected quarter, at that.

Andromeda Tonks-Black was the cousin of Sirius Black, and a part-time barrister. She had recently been re-accepted into the Black family after she had been cast out for marrying a muggleborn. She had also gotten the highest marks in her year before she graduated.

More importantly she was a pure blood, had a no-nonsense attitude, and the fact she was very vocally a _neutral_ witch meant that she could play both sides of the coin.

The only reason Sirius convinced her to apply was because he didn't want Harry to make waves this early in the year, and if Fudge was stupid enough to appoint a known menace like Umbitch, then he might send more and more useless idiots.

Harry didn't need to lose his prefect's badge so early.

The fact she convinced the children to burn the books Umbridge wanted to shove down their throats just made her instantly popular.

* * *

Sirius frowned while he was in the ICW. He had thought Dumbledore had done enough damage as the head judge of the Wizangamot.

He had no idea how bad it was with the ICW. If anything it was worse.

Dumbledore's empty platitudes and the fact he was an obvious hypocrite had alienated most of the wizards from countries that practiced the 'darker' aspects of magic, like blood rituals. Or rituals in general. The fact he brazenly lied to the first generation magicals while openly spoiling the pure bloods to the point they believed they were above the laws of civility...it pissed most of the other Ministries off.

In a way Sirius was lucky. He had the backing of his godson, and when people tried to use Sirius in order to get to Harry, he would rebuff them outright and tell them that if they genuinely wanted to meet his godson, then he would arrange a meeting for them to speak to him personally rather than through a go-between.

It got so bad that Sirius was already planning a big get together, possibly on the third and as-of-yet unused islands that made up the park and the research lab. It was neutral territory and no one would pay any attention to a wizard going to a new and fascinating attraction.

Hammond didn't care, so long as the dinosaurs were fine. Harry was fine with it as long as he could have his pack with him.

The fact Sirius refused outright to turn his godson into a political card like Dumbledore attempted to, but could never pull off made him very popular indeed.

"If I had known what a pain in the ass this was going to be, I wouldn't have agreed to it," whined Sirius.

"Oh hush. At least this way we can actually do some good and keep Harry safe. And look at the bright side."

"What bright side? I have to sit through boring as hell meetings, pretend to play nice, and I have to deal with people thinking I'm an inbred hick because I'm British."

"Sirius, you _are_ an inbred hick. Didn't your mother marry her third cousin?" Remus reminded him cheerfully.

"Moony?"

"Yes Padfoot?"

"Shut up."

"Not a chance in hell."

"You suck."

"That's what your last boyfriend said," Remus shot back.

Sirius grinned, his mood restored.

"Now, see if you two could act as the comedy routine during meetings they wouldn't be so damn boring to go to," said a voice beside them.

Sirius winced. He forgot they were in a meeting right now.

However from the amusement of the rest of the ICW, they weren't offended. They were trying not to laugh at Sirius.

"I think we could arrange something," said Remus smirking.

"I hate you Moony."

"I know, but who else would dare put up with your snoring and the fact you're a damn pervert to anything with breasts?"

"Anything?" said the witch amused.

"He once lusted after a Labrador Retriever," replied Remus smirking.

"Words cannot describe how much I want to hex you Moony," said Sirius.

"And yet the no-spell wards make it impossible," replied Remus.

"I have a question," said the Arabian liaison.

"Yes?"

"Can you provide slap-stick dialogue next week?"

"Slap-stick?"

"You're British, yet you've never watched _Abbot and Costello?_ " said the French witch next to them.

"Never even heard of it."

Annabelle Delacruz smirked.

"I can see what we're going to be doing next week for our meeting."

"Finally! Dumbledore was always so stiff and eager to try and convert us to that greater good crap," said the American liaison, Robert Hayes.

Seeing the nods around the table, Sirius grinned.

"I suppose we could do slap-stick... if we can make these meetings a chance to party and share spells. Nothing state secret, but unusual stuff we don't exactly see at home."

"Show off and have some fun while we are stuck doing boring stuff?" said Annabelle.

"Sounds more fun than having such... Sirius...discussions about nothing all the time," said Sirius.

Seeing the grins on everyone there, Sirius had the feeling these meetings wouldn't be so damn boring.


	22. Chapter 22

The first clue he was about to have a headache was when he came back to the islands and was immediately redirected to Site B, which was adjacent to the main island where the park was located. Site B happened to be where the secondary research lab was located...along with several species that would eventually be added to the park once they finished the pens and Harry had them "up-to-code", so to speak.

They were dealing with animals that had been dead millions of years, some of which were much larger and more dangerous than any modern equivalent. In other words _they_ were the leading authority on dinosaurs. They had to set the standards for the rest of the world, should another park be opened.

And Harry made damn sure that most of the security around the predators were either former dragon tamers or aurors with extensive creature experience.

One "hunt" with his Pack being their target and they knew better than to turn their backs on anything that only ate meat as a food source.

If asked, Harry would honestly claim the guards were posted to prevent human stupidity from becoming a factor. While the tours were scheduled every ten to thirty minutes, that still left time for some idiot to open a cage in an attempt to 'free' the carnivores. He respected the views of people trying to "save" the world from humanity, but also knew that there were some morons who thought all animals should be free despite the fact it would lead to human death and injury in the process.

Which was why anyone who bought a ticket automatically had to sign a legal form stating they understood the dangers and that in the event they were caught trying to free any of the dinosaurs on the island then the management and staff were not legally responsible for their safety.

Coincidentally Harry made a point to mostly hire muggleborns after a thorough and complete background check after their magical education had ended, along with a less extensive one on their parents.

He didn't want a mistaken animal rights activist to become part of their staff and try to cause an incident. They had already caught _three_ idiots trying to become guards of the raptor trio thanks to Harry's insistence they do background checks, no matter the cost.

So when he landed, Harry cut straight to the chase.

"What happened?"

"A family of three and their workers landed on the lesser patrolled outskirts of the island. Their daughter came a bit too close to the pen containing the mini raptors, and she got bit. She'll be fine, but the family is threatening to sue."

"They have a name you know," said Harry.

"They look and act like mini-raptors, and I'm not about to look up the proper name for the damn things," said Erik, who was head of security.

Harry pinched his nose.

"How the hell did they miss the clear signs stating that the island was a restricted area and that only authorized park personnel were allowed?!"

Harry had, shortly after staffing the secondary island with werewolves, had them go around the perimeter of the island that faced the shore and had them nail clear signs that stated the island was a restricted zone and only people with clearance from Jurassic Park were allowed anywhere near it. They were posted every five to ten feet, often on wooden posts that were deliberately hammered into the ground and he had designed them to be clearly visible from fifty feet off shore.

There was absolutely no way that the family had MISSED those signs. At the very least they should have _seen_ the damn things while parking their yacht.

Yes, he was unhappy that their daughter was injured, but according to the report he was reading she understood English well enough to have been able to read the damn sign!

"Where are the family now?"

"Waiting back in the States with their very expensive lawyers angrily threatening to sue the park for negligence," replied Erik.

Harry sighed. This was why he mostly worried about _human_ stupidity more than he did about the dinosaurs once they had the initial security issues dealt with.

"Tell Hammond I'll deal with this, and that he should focus on keeping the board from using it as an excuse to oust him as director," said Harry tiredly.

Hammond's health had been declining of late, and the sharks in iNGen were just waiting for their chance to descend on the park and plunder it. Especially those that had military contacts who drooled over the idea of sending the larger carnivores into battle, like Vic Hoskins.

Harry just knew this was going to be a long day...and an even longer Christmas break.

* * *

It took three days, an inspection of the area where the attack happened, three hours for someone to investigate the yacht's navigational system and at the insistence of Harry a very thorough questioning of the little girl who had been injured, and they reached a settlement.

It was much, much less than the parents were demanding, but the fact was Harry had them over a barrel and he wasn't ashamed to use the fact they had foolishly ignored the signs around the perimeter and had allowed their daughter to wander off without supervision.

The girl had _literally_ walked away from her parents, passed three signs stating the island was OFF-LIMITSto the average person and fed the very dinosaurs that had attacked her. It had taken the mother and the crew fifteen minutes before anyone had noticed the girl was missing, and five before they found the child.

By that time security had been alerted to the fact that the dinosaurs had left their designated area and had apparated to the site and scared them off the child.

They had been in the middle of performing basic first aid and dealing with the shock when the mother arrived.

In short, the entire thing was a case of the parents thinking they could pay off the owner of the island and not paying attention to their damn kid in an unfamiliar area. It was human stupidity and arrogance at it's finest.

Any objections Hammond might have had to the three days it had taken to post the signs, or the fact Harry hired additional security had gone out the window.

Unfortunately as a side effect of the incident (which was labeled as "human error" and not due to any negligence on part of the Park security) Harry now had to deal with yet _another_ safety inspection and a thorough investigation from outside sources on both the park and Site B.

Hammond picked the team, but Harry had his people on stand-by in case Hammond's idiot nephew tried to pull a fast one.

The same nephew which had been very vocal about taking over his uncle's spot on the board of iNGen due to Hammond's failing health. He had been seen several times with some of the board members, and Harry hadn't been willing to pry into Hammond's family for fear of offending the man.

His family, his problem...unless he specifically asked Harry for help.

* * *

How or _why_ Hammond hired Malcolm to be part of the inspection team, he would never understand. From what he was able to gather, Malcolm had been horrified to learn his ex-girlfriend had been chosen and had shown up early to view the second island more or less unsupervised, and had practically dragged the team to the island to 'rescue' her.

Malcolm didn't like the park, and he definitely didn't like how flippant Hammond was about the entire thing. He vocally stated that the entire thing was a house of cards just waiting for the moment to come catastrophically down.

Never mind they brought equipment that would be near impossible to get around on the island, much less past the gates, but to top it off _none_ of the people Hammond brought in knew anything about dinosaurs!

And if that wasn't bad enough, one of the people that were selected happened to have been part of a radical group that specialized in vandalism.

It was a disaster waiting to happen. Hence why Harry did the intelligent thing.

He had his magical security teams keeping an eye on all of them, especially the activist. They didn't make a move he didn't know about, and he even had some of his people flying around on brooms under disillusionment charms to keep an aerial view on them at all times.

He was paranoid, but not stupid.

"Sir, we have an issue on the perimeter," said Viktor, a werewolf from a Bulgarian pack.

"What is it?"

"Scouts have spotted carriers trying to breach the island with iNGen tech. They'll be within range of the beach in twenty minutes."

"How many?"

"Three carriers, some armed with what appear to be cargo containers. They're approaching the south side of the island, which is within range of the herbivore plateau," said Viktor.

"See if you can reach them on the radio and get them to explain why they're within a restricted zone. If they can't give them a five-count warning or you'll start putting holes in the boats," said Harry flatly.

"Yes sir," said Viktor. He made the call, and three minutes later he looked about as happy as Harry was. "They're claiming they have legitimate authorization from the owner of the park to be here."

"Tell the idiots on the boat that if they _had_ authorization then they would have come to the loading docks to the north-west, not tried to breach the island on the south side. And that the actual owner of the island was never told of any visitors outside of the team Hammond hired, all of whom are currently on the island and _not_ authorized to remove ANY animals," replied Harry flatly.

Viktor relayed that to the captain of the main ship, and was given a furious reply.

"They're demanding to speak with the head of security."

"Tell them they're welcome to send an envoy to the loading docks to discuss their side, but they're not getting within landing distance of the island until this is cleared up. Anyone stupid enough to come closer is going to be sunk and the survivors arrested and tried for trespassing, among other things," replied Harry immediately.

An hour later a high-speed boat raced into the docks where Harry was waiting. Considering his people on the south were armed with weapons that were absolutely capable of sinking the ships that were currently waiting to land, they decided to cautiously sort this out.

And wouldn't you know it, the one _leading_ said expedition to the island was Hammond's idiot nephew.

Harry was not amused.

"You have a lot of nerve, you brat," he sneered.

Harry kept the flat look on his face.

"I take it that the board was idiotic enough to appoint you as director?" Harry replied.

"These islands are mine. The animals are _mine_. You have no right to deny me entry," he said angrily.

Harry stared at him.

"You're kidding, right?"

Seeing the superior smirk on his face, Harry sighed.

"I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't know you were illiterate as well."

"What did you call me?!"

"Illiterate, meaning you can't read," stated Harry flatly. Before the fool could blow up again, Harry looked him in the eye and said "Obviously you never looked at the agreement Hammond made with me when I tied most of my family money into the park."

Seeing he had his attention, Harry recited the general gist of the document.

"In the event of an accident or bodily harm of a human due to an attack by one of the animals, the ownership of the islands and the animals contained on them will automatically be given to me in exchange for an agreed upon sum. In exchange, iNGen and Hammond would assume full control over the park equipment and the research labs, provided of course that the items within do not involve either specimens or embryos," recited Harry. Seeing the idiot didn't fully understand the implications of what he was saying, he further clarified it. "In short, because of that idiot couple not keeping track of their daughter and spawning the investigation of both populated islands, I now have full control over the park, the secondary lab and anything to do with the dinosaurs on the island. Your uncle and the company own the research equipment and the vehicles, but they no longer have any rights to the viable embryos, the eggs, or the dinosaurs currently living on the islands."

"That's ridiculous!"

"That's your uncle knowing when to back out and take responsibility for creating life," Harry shot back. It had taken _months_ to figure out a way to word the document so that none of the people on the board or their lawyers knew _exactly_ what Hammond was handing over to a teenager.

Seeing him puff up, Harry pointed to the general direction of the mainland.

"You have three hours to get off _my_ island before I blow your boats out of the water. My lawyers will be happy to talk to yours once you've read up on the transfer of ownership," said Harry smugly.

* * *

Hammond wasn't an idiot. His nephew, however, was.

Harry couldn't help but keep the smug expression on his face when he saw the look of absolute fury on the face of Hammond's nephew and the stunned realization on the board of directors when they realized that because of a minor incident, the majority of the park Hammond created was in the hands of a teenager who wasn't old enough to vote. Sure, they had most of the research labs and their notes, but the dinosaurs and the islands they were contained on were now completely out of their hands.

And if Harry was smug, Hammond was laughing his ass off because they had kicked him out of the board shortly after he sent the team to inspect the islands.

Let it never be said the man didn't have a sense of humor to match the Marauders.

The business journals and newspapers were having a _field day_ with this revelation.

And to top it all off, Hammond's nephew (who Harry never bothered to learn the name of) was thrown out of iNGen on his ass for revealing this mess.

In an effort to save face, iNGen's board of directors quietly offered Harry the position Hammond had been thrown out of and his nephew had failed to keep for more than a month.

Needless to say Harry accepted it, but sent his private team of investigators (all of whom were now _very_ happy they had accepted employment from a teenager when offered) to work checking _every_ employee from the lowliest janitor all the way up to the board of directors.

By the time he was done, Harry planned to have the entire company more or less staffed by magicals...and to have the board quietly replaced with _his_ people.

Let it never be said Harry was a fool.


	23. Chapter 23

**The Indominus will be making her grand debut soon...with a vastly different outcome~!**

* * *

If you had asked Harry how his Christmas break would have ended, he honestly wouldn't have told you that he finally took a break from Hogwarts.

He wasn't the only one. Hermione, as agreed, became his secretary. It made things easier because she couldn't be bribed. At least not with how much Harry was offering her to help him handle being a 'businessman' instead of being at the park.

Her parents were thrilled, because they hadn't liked how entrenched their daughter had become in magic.

And after seeing how many were 'cast aside' because they weren't from old money and old blood, they were glad that Harry had cared enough to offer their daughter a chance to stay grounded.

"What do we have today?" asked Harry.

He did most of his work from the island, using teleconference unless his presence was _absolutely_ required. Considering he was the main force behind the park, which was his current source of income, it was understandable.

With control over the islands and the park itself, down to the research labs, quite a few things had changed.

For one thing, he no longer _needed_ Hammond's approval to make certain changes, though he still ran them by the man.

John Hammond was dying. He knew it, Harry knew it...his family knew it.

While his legacy would live on in the park...though Harry's work, he knew his time was almost up.

And while he could and did prepare for the inevitable, it hurt. It hurt a lot knowing the closest thing to a grandfather would be gone soon.

Harry could handle pain. He could handle betrayal.

He wasn't entirely sure how he would handle loss.

He had lost his parents as an infant, too young to fully understand or know them enough to mourn.

He had lost his childhood years ago, when he realized that his aunt and uncle could care less about him, or the pain they were inflicting on a seven-year-old when they turned their backs and peacefully slept while he was out in the cold in a tree because of Marge's damn dog.

He had lost his respect for authority figures when his first attempts to get help, to get someone that could save him from the hell that was his home life failed spectacularly...and only brought even more pain and loneliness when he was eventually taken back to his angry uncle.

Ironically it hadn't been magic that had saved him, but a crazy idea from an eccentric old man who just wanted to leave his mark on the world before he died.

Talon had saved Harry's life...and if not for Hammond's dream, he never would have found the ability or the courage to leave the pain of his childhood behind. And for that, Harry knew he would mourn Hammond once it was confirmed he was gone.

Lex and Tim considered him their adopted brother when they figured that out, and he gladly accepted the idea.

It was called the Hammond Center, and it held the largest amount of information available to the public about the park, the animals, and a brand new research facility that would be upgraded within reason when new ideas and techniques became available.

Hammond had been delighted when he saw his holographic projection appear to greet visitors. It was still a rough sketch, but it was worlds away from what other parks were doing.

He had had Hammond do the entire greeting, and there was even a biography and a timeline of how long it had taken the park to come into being.

It was his tribute to Hammond, a way of reminding people who's dream it had been. He was just glad the man had a chance to see it before his time came.

* * *

Harry felt numb when the news hit. Hammond had passed in his sleep, peacefully.

That numbness spread throughout his body, and he barely registered Hermione taking the phone and putting it on the hook.

He didn't fully register her hugging him, or Talia holding him.

Through Harry the Pack had come to understand emotions. They had come to understand that there was Pack and there was the Not Pack, but still Pack.

Hammond was Not Pack, but he was important to the Alpha in a way that meant he was part of the Pack. They understood that the Pack had taken a devastating loss, and that the Alpha needed his Pack to recover.

They might not be human...but they could come pretty damn close at times.

Harry wore his best suit, and was the one who released Hammond's ashes at the highest point on the park. Hammond's last wish was that he be scattered to the winds on the island that had brought dreams into reality.

Beside him, Hammond's family watched as their grandfather was taken by the wind.

A silent bond of sadness was felt, as they watch the remains of Hammond fly away on the winds of the island.

* * *

It took Harry two months before he moved off from the sudden loss of John Hammond.

During that time he became difficult to be around, he would have mood swings, and his aggression spiked. Thankfully he had already had the 'raptor training facility', which was essentially a paddock that was separate from the rest of Site B the same way the ABC sisters were separated from the rest of the island tours more or less finished.

He just set lose several wild pigs, and the Pack would take turns perfecting their hunting ability. Out of all of them Harry needed the most work in his ability to hunt.

Finally he was able to cope with the loss of Hammond in a healthy way and able to get back to work.

Which was perfect timing, considering the new raptor packs were scheduled to hatch and start bonding with their partners.

Harry had tested several people extensively, and had Talon briefly work with a few before anyone had been chosen.

One of the people who would be receiving a raptor was a hedge-wizard intern named Owen Grady. He was a recent graduate of an American magical school, and had been eagerly following Jurassic Park since it was opened.

He would be undergoing extra training, because he had originally wanted to be a Marine. Fortunately there were a few former Marines on staff who were willing to train him in most of the basics.

Owen would be the youngest applicant to be accepted into Harry's very, very selective raptor program. Because of the familiar bond, he only allowed _magical_ applicants. It would take some serious impressing before he allowed a muggle to have a raptor egg.

So now Harry was standing in front of the four people who had gotten through his strict screening process.

"Everyone, you stand before me as the hopeful trainers and human partners of the coveted raptor eggs. Due to some irregularities and learning they can be trained, we've had to short list the entire process. You've all been briefed and shown what can happen once you've accepted a raptor as your permanent familiar. You've seen the consequences if raptors are not bonded to humans. Talon and Sickle has vetted each and every one of you as a potential new Alpha."

Harry looked at them all in the eye.

"Tomorrow, you will all receive an egg. This egg will be your world when you are not working or in training. The carnivore inside is not a domestic animal like a dog or a cat. It is a creature that can and will kill and eat you if mistreated, to say nothing of what _I'll_ do to you if I find you've been neglecting your partner and you happen to survive. To put this into proper perspective, raptors are tigers with the intelligence of a human. To those of you who successfully _bond_ with your velociraptor to the point they accept you as their Alpha and pass the course, you may apply for a second within the next two years. Above all you must remember that these animals are looking to you as the pack leader and will obey commands once they realize you're trying to train them to be part of a pack."

Harry took out a used and worn clicking toy.

"This...will be your primary took for communication. Once your raptors are two months old we will begin Morse Code training. This is so you can properly communicate with your raptor and you _will_ be learning it."

Seeing their full and undivided attention on him and the raptors beside him, including little Scythe who he finally cleared to join him outside the raptor area, he smiled.

"I have high hopes for all of your that we'll soon have a full squad of raptor guards on the islands. Remember, above all else this is an experiment to see if people other than myself can replicate the ability to bond with a raptor. We are not, I repeat, _not_ training these raptors to serve out in combat situations, no matter what any potential military applications might appear. The only thing we sell to the military is the dilophosaur venom, and that's because they produce an anti-venom for us in exchange."

Harry had made it abundantly clear. He wasn't going to sell any of the dinosaurs to the military, no matter how 'harmless' they were. By-products like the venom were barely acceptable to him.

Humans had enough ways of killing each other. They didn't need to drag dinosaurs into their wars.

Over the next week, Harry observed the applicants and their raptors.

Out of the four, only _one_ stands out as a potential pack leader.

Owen Grady, the youngest applicant. He was the _lone_ trainee that treated his raptor, who he named "Blue" because his raptor had a distinct blue streak running down her back, with the respect she deserved.

Which was why, after the first three fail and the raptor pairs considered "Beta packs", only Owen remained as a solo Alpha raptor trainer.

That wasn't to say that the three other trainees were complete wash-outs. It just meant they weren't ready to work as a proper Alpha-pack team like Harry. They were still part of a pack, but they now had to work in a joined one. Owen, however, had the right attitude to be an Alpha-pack instead of what Harry cheerfully called a Beta-pack team.

Owen was the only other person who was allowed to keep a raptor in his room, even if Blue had to stay in his room the entire night.

* * *

Sirius came to check in on Harry. He had taken the death of Hammond hard, but his stubborn pride had kicked in when he needed it most and he pulled through.

"So pup, how are you feeling?"

"Tired. Helping Owen train Blue is exhausting, not to mention running the park, dealing with the business world...and if that isn't bad enough I have these weird ass dreams keeping me up every night," said Harry.

Sirius blinked.

"Weird dreams?"

"I'm walking down a long corridor that leads to a large black door. I have the feeling that I'm supposed to get something from behind the door, but I have no idea what because I've never seen that door before."

"Describe the door."

Harry did, and when he finished Sirius' frown went to confusion and concern.

"Harry...have you ever heard of the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry?"

"The what?"

Sirius took that as a no.

"Okay, shortly before you were born someone made a prophecy about the Dark Lord, or what they assumed was the current Dark Lord. It basically stated that a child born at the end of July _might_ have the power to end the git, using the 'power he knows not.' And that the kid would be 'marked his equal'."

"Bugger."

"It was either you or Neville, and apparently he picked you for some unfathomable reason. It's why your parents tried to hide under the fidelius charm in the first place."

"How do you even know all this?"

"Dumbledore told James, who told me while dead drunk. He swore me to secrecy and I more or less forgot about it until after Azkaban."

"...Wait, Dumbledore told my dad? Why? More importantly how the hell did he find out about this prophecy anyway?"

"I have no idea. I just heard about it after the fact, shortly after Dumbledore told them. I guess he told Frank as well, which would explain why they took an inactive status and hid rather than leave Neville with his grandmother and keep up the fight," said Sirius.

"So what does this have to do with the door?"

"The Department of Mysteries holds a lot of secrets...including a Prophecy hall that maintains all active, inactive, or resolved prophecies. It automatically records new ones the moment anyone registered as having Seer's blood makes them."

"And how do you know about all this?"

Sirius coughed.

"It's a long story, one you're no where near old enough to hear...plus it partially incriminates Remus, who swore he'd hex my balls off if I said a word about it."

"...Now I have to hear this, if only for blackmail on the old wolf."

Sirius grinned.

"That's my adorably evil godson. Sounds to me like someone or something is trying to make you remove the prophecy for them."

"So ignore it?"

"Bingo."

* * *

It was shortly after his sixteenth birthday that Harry got wind of an issue on Isla Sorna. That held some of the 'replacement' dinosaurs and one about to be transferred onto the main park... the Spinosaurus. It was a vicious brute who was almost as hard to handle as Rexy. Fortunately they had managed to find a way to pen it up on the main island with the same security measures as Rexy. Like her, the finned dinosaur couldn't exactly _dig_ very well at all.

He planned to name the new addition "Alicia" after his old Quidditch teammate.

Soon after hearing the fact that somehow the driver of the boat had mysteriously gone missing, the two flying on the parachute had to make a crash landing on the island.

The problem was that they had the bad luck of landing within the same general area of the Spinosaurus.

Time to see if Owen had what it took to lead the Beta pack along with Blue into a rescue mission.

They'd have aerial back-up if required, but for the most part they'd hang back until it was clear they needed assistance.

While they were busy on the rescue, Harry was going to be meeting his usual headache to discuss a possible aquatic addition to the park.

They had the room for a massive water pen, and it wasn't like they couldn't handle a purely aquatic animal.

Hammond might have gone the dinosaur route and chosen a mosasaur...but Harry wanted something more impressive. That and he blamed Nick for leaving his reading material lying around.

He wanted a megalodon...the prehistoric predecessor to the Great White Shark.

Either way it would be a prehistoric animal capable of eating people.

Henry Wu didn't like Harry. Harry not only had a better head on his shoulders than his original boss, he also paid more attention than Hammond ever had.

Wu was _not_ oblivious to the fact Harry always did a check of his activities every time there was a budget issue. Or that he had his secretary openly spying on them while working alongside them. While his lesser colleagues had accepted Granger in the lab and that she didn't hide the fact she was going to report directly back to the man who paid their checks, Wu did not.

He disliked the fact that the girl was as smart, if not smarter than him. He disliked the fact that she was a witch, when he was a squib from a prominent family. He disliked that his actions were being watched openly and discreetly.

He disliked having to answer for his actions.

Hammond had been easy going and didn't ask much about whatever Wu did. He barely understood the science behind it and rarely asked why he needed some random piece of equipment. It had been _easy_ to slip things that Wu planned to keep past him.

Harry was a scientist of a different study, but a scientist nonetheless. And what he _didn't_ understand he would have someone else clarify for him to the point he understood what Wu was saying. It should have been great, since they both spoke roughly the same basic language.

It wasn't. Harry was lenient on the budget and even doled out minor raises or rewards whenever they made a significant breakthrough in their work, but he was also strict. He wanted to know _why_ they needed said equipment. He made a point to understand their work and provide insight. He asked questions Wu rarely wanted to answer, and he didn't take any condescension from him. He was more involved than Hammond ever was.

And that wasn't getting into the fact he was a powerful wizard from old blood and even older money.

So he took a rather large amount of pleasure informing his boss that no, they couldn't breed a megalodon into the park because they had yet to successfully clone a dinosaur from their bones. Even if they used great white shark DNA to handle the missing parts, there was currently no feasible way to clone a megalodon.

Harry's disappointed pout made Wu's day. He didn't even make a single comment on Wu's ability to clone monsters from the distant past and how he should have been able.

So he went for his second choice, if only because of a kinship he had with the beast since he was originally schooled in Scotland.

"How about a plesiosaur?"

"A _what?"_ said Wu.

"Plesiosaur, often the dinosaur associated with the Loch Ness monster, despite the fact no one has ever gotten a proper look at the so called monster," repeated Harry.

"...Doable, but you'll still need DNA for it," said Wu. He didn't like Harry. He did like the challenges Harry could present that Hammond never did.

"I'll get the DNA, and if you can successfully breed a plesiosaur I'll give you a raise and your choice of _one_ expensive piece of equipment, no questions asked."

Henry Wu raised an eye.

"Deal."

* * *

"How went the rescue?"

"The family friend died from a broken neck, but the kid made it out. We managed to get to him before he was found by Alicia," said Owen.

Harry winced.

"Any idea where the driver of the boat went?" asked Harry seriously.

Owen shook his head.

"There was some blood residue, and we're going to be pulling up satellite images to see if anything shows up," said Owen.

"Find out how the hell that driver vanished, and report back to me. But for now I want you and the Betas to take an hour off to relax and take care of your partners," said Harry.

"Yes sir!" said Owen. He _loved_ working under Harry as a raptor trainer.


	24. Chapter 24

**Okay, some of you have asked why Harry has never killed the park Raptors. The simple answer is that he doesn't _want_ to kill them. They're excellent examples of why his raptors are dangerous without people looking at Talon and the others and trying to get rid of them. Also, I would like to warn you I have only one chapter left already written, and I might be able to write more once the muse returns. Given how quickly this was written, there shouldn't be any issues like before.**

* * *

Investigation into the matter revealed that the driver had gotten spooked by something he saw and had literally _dove_ off the boat while in motion. They couldn't identify what it was, but when they found the man he was injured from the impact of hitting the water and being in the ocean for several hours.

And he was too dehydrated to tell them. When he was well enough to talk, Harry was going to get answers one way or another.

Harry was completely sympathetic to the man who died from a bad landing, and even paid for the funeral expenses. The parents of the boy who survived the landing was also given a quiet sum of money and a free pass for the three of them to the park if they were so inclined.

Harry was quite pleased with Owen. Sure he was a bit rough around the edges, but underneath it all he was a good man and an even better worker.

And there was always the entertainment of watching Hermione finally get over her unease concerning raptors long enough to possibly fall for Owen. Ten minutes with the "killer" pack was enough for her to more or less accept them as an inevitable part of her life.

She wasn't going to raise one though.

And for all his rough exterior, Owen had a lot of genuine charm. More than enough for almost seventeen-year-old Hermione to fall for the nineteen-year-old Owen.

Harry couldn't wait to see how this develops.

* * *

The public's reaction to "Nessie" the plesiosaur?

MASSIVE.

Yes, a mosasaur would have been pretty damn impressive in it's own right, but in the end interest would have faded except people treating it as a much meaner version of Shamu from Sea World. However the fact Harry capitalized on the Loch Ness monster legends?

Interest wasn't going down anytime soon for Nessie. In fact it had only grown since he introduced the newest addition, and that he finally found a use for the unpleasant industry of "shark fin" hunters.

It was a sad fact that fishermen who capitalized on the rather horrifying trade of shark fins (for the well known recipe of shark fin soup) would cut off the fins and toss the bodies of the sharks they had mutilated overboard for them to drown and die. It was a terrible industry and had animal activists screaming bloody murder over it the world over.

However Harry found the perfect way to hopefully curtail most of the needless death. Instead of buying whole sharks or animals to feed to Nessie, he paid the same fishermen who condemned the animals to a horrible death for the remainder of the shark. Which meant they could make a decent profit for the entire shark rather than just the fins.

Animal rights groups had been pissed for all of a week before Harry calmly explained why he paid for those sharks.

Fins took up relatively little space on a boat. But if the fishermen were _inclined_ to keep more of the shark on board, then they would have less room for just the fins. It would force them to kill less sharks, and they could just as easily cut the fins off on shore than they could at sea. Sure the shipping was a bitch and a half, but it was a simple solution to an unpleasant problem that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

As Harry bluntly put it, either they find a way to make shark fin soup sound less appealing as a dish, or they find a way to curtail the industry altogether.

Nessie didn't seem to care one way or another.

"Really Harry?" said Hermione amused.

"Scottish pride and all that. I mean for all we know, the kraken in the Black Lake could be the real source of the Loch Ness monster myth."

"Kraken?"

"I looked it up. The 'squid' in the lake has been there for as long as anyone can remember, and it more closely resembles the kraken, which is the magical cousin of the giant squid. Plus I compared photos to the one in the lake. It's a kraken, not a squid."

Hermione shook her head.

"I still can't believe you're paying for mutilated sharks."

"Check the numbers. The number of people buying shark fin soup and the number of shark deaths have taken a steep nose dive thanks to my stunt. So long as they're getting paid, the fishermen don't actually care."

Harry did care. He could respect a true predator. But he wasn't going to lose any sleep over the fact that he was feeding sharks to Nessie. And neither were those who went into the business of mutilating the animals for a soup that didn't even taste that great out of some sick desire for revenge.

Hermione had, a month after she found out where Harry was getting the food to feed their new attraction. He was bringing so much press to the whole issue that some of the fishermen were starting to look at alternative ways of paying the bills.

"So have you considered going back to Hogwarts next year?"

"Not a chance in hell. You?" said Harry amused.

"It's lost a good chunk of appeal after experiencing the competency of private tutors who actually have decent books."

"I know, right? It's amazing how we've learned more about magic _outside_ the school than in the four years we were in it, not counting all time time you wasted trying to figure out what Talon was."

Hermione looked very much like she wanted to hex him for the reminder.

"Look at where we are now. Five years ago we were just starting school and learning magic for the first time. And now we're in charge of the most successful park and eventual takeover of an entire company in order to give muggleborns a chance to survive."

"All because of an old man with a crazy dream that he made real," said Hermione, looking at the general direction of the Hammond center.

Hammond might have been an eccentric old man, but he had opened up an entire world for an abused child, albeit very indirectly and in the end directly. And he had given Harry all the tools he would need to thrive in the world.

All because of a single egg.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" asked Harry somewhat cheerful. He was beginning to return to his old self.

"The only thing on _your_ agenda for the next month is a long-overdue vacation. I've cleared your schedule for the next month, Sirius has had the island his family owns for some unknown reason cleaned up and modernized, and Remus has his medicine packed. You're going to be spending a full month away from the stress of being the owner of a large park and so are your pack. Owen has the booklet I had made up on raptor training, and we'll call you if anything comes up we can't handle. You need a break before you snap," replied Hermione succinctly.

Their friendship had hit some rocky points, had even crashed and burned to a low flame. But in the end the fact Hermione had been there when he genuinely _needed_ her support and had given him the space when he actually had to have it while he was grieving had repaired the damage that had been caused when she had reacted so negatively to Talon and the others. She was still a bossy, know-it-all girl who insisted on pursuing things best left alone, but he had known that going in after the first time she forced him to endure her study schedules.

It had taken a long time, but they had brought their friendship back to the same point it had been when he had initially rescued her from the troll on Halloween five years ago.

Ron? Ron was a lost cause after Harry bothered to look past the fact he was the first kid his own age who tried to befriend him properly.

* * *

Harry's first vacation in years, and suddenly he remembered why he had agreed to sponsor the park in the first place.

Learning to surf was _fun_. Being able to fly and enjoy it was enough to remind him why he loved Quidditch in the first place, and almost miss playing it.

But the highlight (at least for a cackling Sirius anyway) was what happened when he got Talia and her 'sister' drunk while in human form. And then proceeded to get Harry completely wasted on the good stuff, before locking them in a room together.

Sirius had blackmail photos of Harry finally acting like a normal male, even if he was unlikely to end up in a 'healthy' relationship with normal human females.

He had long since resigned himself to the fact Harry would likely end up marrying his familiars, no matter _how_ unusual it was in the magical society, after realizing how possessive Talia was towards him.

She submitted to Harry as an Alpha. That didn't mean she was very open to the idea of submitting to _another_ female of any species trying to assert herself in the pack after all these years of being his second in command with the pack.

So long as any progeny of their pack was born human, Harry wasn't going to ask.

In retrospect, Harry hadn't realized exactly how badly he had needed a vacation from all the crap that had been almost deliberately piled onto his lap shortly after that investigation and Hammond's subsequent death. It still hurt like a punch to the chest whenever he remembered that the old man wasn't going to be there anymore, but it was definitely getting better. It definitely didn't help that Harry had to pile school and magical tutoring on _top_ of managing what was quickly becoming the world's most successful park in recent history.

Plus his stress levels started dropping once he finally quit holding back from his natural urges as a hormonal teenager around Talia and the others. Scythe would have to wait until she was older and could shapeshift, if she was allowed to join in at all.

In the words of Sirius, all Harry _really_ needed to relax was to 'get laid'.

* * *

Harry returned two months later to chaos...and finding out Wu had been up to no good again. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Someone explain why there is now a pair of eggs I don't recognize on this table, all by themselves and not with the others."

Wu had the good grace to look somewhat sheepish. Either that or he had the instinct to realize when he needed to talk fast or get into more trouble than even he was capable of getting out of with his boss.

"Well we've been throwing around ideas of how to bring back some of the older ambers, since the DNA is too degraded to use. Things like the megalodon you initially asked for. Then someone asked if it was possible to combine two different dinosaurs to make something new."

"Which I'm guessing resulted in these eggs here," finished Harry. "Which DNA strands are they and don't lie."

"Tyrannosaur and Velociraptor," admitted Wu.

Harry clearly wanted to bang his head on something hard.

"Right. These two _never_ go into the park. Who gave you the funding for this anyway?!"

Wu looked him the eye and said "The military offered to sponsor it."

"Who?"

"General Hoskins."

Harry looked at Wu with clear irritation on his face.

"Congratulations, you're now on probation until I make it very clear what a bad idea this was to mix those two DNA strands together. The rest of you are going to have to deal with Granger's oversight until my irritation with Wu is over with. Now before we make a monumental mistake, I want these two placed with the rest of the eggs and put on special watch. And _you_ are going to explain _exactly_ what DNA strands other than dinosaur you put into them, so we can be prepared for any...surprises," said Harry flatly.

Wu winced.

* * *

 _Three months later..._

Between the two of them, Harry and Owen were designated the primary caretakers of the newly made Indominus Rex. Harry had had a very long, detailed talk with General Hoskins about Wu's stunt...after confirming the money had come from his office...and had insured it would never happen a second time by going over the man's head and straight to the American president with a long, detailed explanation he could understand about why he refused to even consider the idea of pairing military men with raptors.

This was after, of course, he introduced the man and his generals to Alice and her pack.

Five minutes of seeing the alpha raptor tear apart a wild pig was enough to make even the most hardened stomach queasy. Finding out they were prime examples of what _would_ happen if a raptor broke out of containment and wasn't bonded properly had been enough to convince the president it wasn't worth the potential lives.

Yes, he had also introduced them to Talon, but after explaining how long and labor-intensive the process was, and how the human had to be on guard at all times in the first few months and every day after...well, the American military decided to stick with attack dogs.

At least with them they didn't automatically label humans as prey to be eaten.

Harry was nice enough to pay back what they spent on the two eggs that had proved viable...with a little extra since they were so reasonable about it.

Last he heard the Americans used the money to pay for the troops medical care.

So now here Harry and Owen were, waiting for the eggs to hatch. Harry had taken the biggest, mostly because it gave him a rather nasty vibe from the start. Owen, who was the _only_ Alpha raptor who had passed the initial course to take on a second raptor he named Charlie, was going to handle the second Indominus Rex.

If it was part raptor, then it was going to be intelligent. Harry just took that as a given.

Mostly because of his primary animagus form.

The eggs began to wobble, and the second Harry figured out where the egg was cracking the most he went to that side and waited.

The shell broke off. A single angry red eye glared at him from inside the egg. The 'moment' as Harry and every other paired magical called it passed between him and the animal inside. He briefly modified his vocal cords to make the rumbling growl of the raptors, and the eye blinked. The moment passed, but he could tell that the impression had been made.

In a few minutes, the egg was broken apart and he saw a miniaturized version of Godzilla.

Nearby Owen had his moment with the other egg. He used the clicking toy Harry had given to all Raptor-partners to gain it's attention, and then was gently talking to it while it hatched. Because they were in rooms separated by a wall of glass that had been soundproofed, his partner didn't hear Owen. But she could see him and her 'sister'.

Talon and the others walked in, and you could see the animal working it out. Harry shifted into his Raptor form. He made a series of barking noises, and nuzzled the infant.

The one he repeated was "Pack". The Indominus Rex tilted her head, then cautiously approached Harry, who had the smell and sounds of the Alpha raptor. His rumbling growl didn't sound threatening, which was all the infant needed to identify their sight, smell and sound as that of 'pack', family.

Harry found it was easier to bound an infant to the pack if they had plenty of things to associate with.

In the other room, the other Indominus Rex was bonding with Blue and the still young Charlie. You could see she was closer to Charlie than she was with Blue.

Harry just knew this was going to be a painful few months.


	25. Chapter 25

_**I have horrible, soul-crushing news. The laptop which held some of the stories such as Adamantium, It's In the Blood and others is officially dead. As it, it's completely scrap metal and there's no way to recover ANY of the files. Apparently the hard drive won't even turn on, so there's nothing to be done.**_

 _ **Please have a moment of silence for the lost chapters on the hard drive. Thank you.**_

 **TT_TT**

* * *

Harry's prediction that their next few months would be hectic proved to be true. Not only did "Lizzie" turn out to be a handful, but her sister "Elsa" followed her partner everywhere. And he did mean everywhere.

In the spirit of keeping the peace, Owen had been delegated to handle Site B with his "Betas". Mostly because Lizzie kept trying to eat Elsa.

Hermione was still baffled at their names, since neither of them followed the same naming pattern as the raptors. Harry had seemed amused at her confusion.

"Lizzie is short for Elizabeth, as in Elizabeth Batheroy."

Hermione's face scrunched up, before recognition hit.

"The Blood Countess who thought the blood of young maidens could keep her young and beautiful forever, provided she bathed in it?"

Harry nodded happily.

"It can also be for Lizzie Borden," said Harry.

"Lizzie Borden, the girl who supposedly murdered her parents with an axe," said Hermione, catching on fast. "But what about 'Elsa'?"

"Owen watched the movie _Frozen_ shortly before the eggs hatched, and since Elsa's skin was as white as snow..."

Hermione looked amused now.

"Elsa was the Ice Queen, right?"

"Yup. And Anna was too sweet and innocent, whereas Elsa had been jaded over the years. Besides, her hair was almost white," said Harry.

"Harry, don't take this the wrong way, but I fear for any children you have."

"Why?"

"Your naming sense is ridiculous."

"My naming sense? Have you seen my godfather's naming sense?" said Harry smirking.

Hermione made a face.

"Anyway have you heard the rumors? Everyone's expecting the new Indominus Rex to be part of the park."

"Not a chance in hell. Lizzie's too bloodthirsty for her to be part of the main park...the spinosaurus is dangerous enough to have around."

Harry had reached an...understanding...with Rexy. He gave her a baby to take care of, and she kept her to territory without trying to maul Alicia. Well that and he cheerfully told her while in 'Rex' form that he wouldn't be replacing the intruder once she was gone. So long as everyone kept to their areas, then they would be happy.

Though he did have to endure a stinging hex...or five...when Alicia from his school found out he had named a dinosaur after her. And she got a good look at it.

When Lizzie became full grown, Harry introduced her to Henry Wu via having her roar at him through his window. Wu actually _shit_ himself when he realized what was outside his apartment on the island.

Seeing the look on Harry's face, Wu got the message.

No more combining DNA without his approval, or next time he'd be fed to Lizzie.

The _only_ reason the rather aggressive hybrid even LISTENED to Harry was because he had taken his Indominus Rex form and forced her to submit.

* * *

"Okay, I'll bite. How the hell did you train Elsa to let you ride her when I've never dared to do the same with Talon?" asked Harry.

"Elsa is waaay better behaved than her sister Lizzie. She also understands that she's faster than me, but recognizes I'm the Alpha. So we've been working on drills that allow her to run while Blue and Charlie are on her back."

"I've done that before with Talon and the others, and they got used to balancing pretty quick. Haven't tested it out with Lizzie just yet."

Because until that red eye went completely green, he wasn't going to trust her in a field test. At all. She understood she wasn't allowed out of a certain area, and Harry had moved his bungalow farther away from the main areas of the island. If she tried to leave the area, one of the Pack would nip at her. Every night Harry made a point to re-establish dominance over her by using his superior bulk.

She would be bigger than the others, but if she wanted that spot as the other beta-female next to Talon, she had to earn it. The fact Harry had an Alpha-male scent meant she was willing to learn.

She could be taught teamwork, which was the only reason Harry hadn't immediately scrapped the eggs.

"Once she got used to us riding on top, she was ready to learn directions. I think she enjoys being part of the pack," said Owen proudly.

To be fair, she was almost faster than any broom on the island. Once she was full grown and knew her place in the pack, Owen was reasonably sure they could start patrolling the other islands.

Elsa had a much sweeter and more easy-going disposition compared to Lizzie.

"You are so lucky. I usually have to be the one carrying the three around with Lizzie following on my left," said Harry.

The reason he had never dared to try and ride Talon (at least not in the sense that he used her as a transport) was because he wasn't a complete idiot. Raptors were intelligent predators, and the second Talon got the first idea that she could throw Harry off and assume control of the pack, it would be game over for him and a good chunk of the school.

And by the time he _did_ gain enough control over the pack that he might feasibly be able to ride her that way, he was too big and his animagus form negated the need. Even though he had Lizzie, and she was big enough to carry two of the raptors and himself, she wasn't trained enough to handle that sort of new command. She barely tolerated him as the Alpha to begin with, which had Harry cursing Wu for possibly putting an Alpha T-Rex gene in there.

The Asian scientist was already on his shit-list for Alice. This only dug him in deeper.

"So is it just your pack, or..."

"She only tolerates Blue, Charlie and me riding her. She usually tries to nip the Betas."

"Figures. She's established that you're pack, so it's acceptable that she gets you to the prey faster. But the others aren't pack, so they get eaten. Frankly I think it's a miracle we figured out they would work as a team despite being paired with different humans, so long as we have an established Alpha in place," said Harry.

Owen having a similar Alpha trait made things easier. Harry couldn't establish dominance over that big a pack _and_ run a company.

Though in his case he was more of a leash than anything. He kept the idiots on the board from making very stupid decisions, which ironically made them more popular and profitable.

Having a clear leader saying "No, I don't care how much money it's going to take, we are going to do it right the first time" and not taking any bullshit made things easier.

The fact he planned to replace them the first chance he had, more so. He hated corrupt morons.

Fortunately they were half out already...they just didn't know it yet.

You had to love Luna. Two days after putting her in charge of the company newsletter (with people actually _bothering_ to read it, since it made for a much interesting reading material while in the bathrooms) the migraines of trying to translate the quirky girl's hidden messages was already driving them up the wall. Any attempts to get her to stop were met with a painful, unhappy death.

And by that, Harry didn't mean being eaten by a dinosaur, but rather being forced to edit and spend large amounts of time with Luna and trying to find the 'logic' in what she was saying.

She gave Hermione headaches. Ergo, the blond witch was a natural enemy of logical order and to anyone who didn't mind putting sanity in the backseat where it belonged.

"Owen, have I ever said how much you suck?"

"You're just jealous that I got my big bad hybrid to let me ride her, and yours won't let you until after you get laid again," said Owen smugly. It wasn't _that_ big a secret that Harry's "girlfriend" was also his original raptor familiar.

He was rich, and from a long line of nobles. That meant he could indulge in weird fetishes and no one would bat an eye, so long as it wasn't too illegal or freaky. Dating your familiar didn't even reach the top ten of either category.

"Which brings us to our next topic of discussion... This."

Owen looked at the large manila folder, and it took him a few seconds before he realized it came from...

"Dude...is that the British Secret Service? Like their equivalent of the CIA?" he said impressed.

"The Queen finally learned of the so-called prophecy and gave me an offer. I'm given carte blanche to deal with the so-called dark lord in any way so long as I keep civilian casualties to a minimum. She's already going to given the English magical communities a nasty wake-up call using the muggleborns I managed to contact, and they're going to gut the place while we give the older, more inbred families a little lesson on the food chain and their place in it."

"...So basically you were given a legal document stating we can take the raptors and the two sisters out for a bit of fun and see how well they can handle combat in a field operation?"

"That idiot Hoskins is always trying to get the raptors or some other predator out to play with. We're going in and cleaning the place up, as a test to see if we can feasibly use the raptors for park security in keeping those idiot tree-huggers and eco-terrorists from causing trouble. Coincidentally if you impress me you'll be given full control over the security of one of the islands and a raise."

"Sweet."

Harry smirked. He liked Owen, and wondered if this was how his dad had felt when he first met Sirius all those years ago.

* * *

It had been pathetically easy to lure the Death Eaters into a relatively empty village with only a few fake golems made to look like people.

Apparently there was something called a "taboo" where anyone who said Voldemort got a squad of Death Eaters sent to them within minutes. The more they said it, the more idiots showed up.

Needless to say Harry and Owen had a fun game of playing "Bloody Mary: Magical Moron Edition."

By which they went to each house in the deserted village and said Voldemort three times each in every mirror and bathroom they could find while holding a candle, then they vanished and waited for the idiots to show up. The Betas also helped, just to be sure that they showed up.

They nabbed a good fifty Death Eaters, one of which was Lucius Malfoy, in the first round.

Lizzie seemed to take vindictive pleasure in ripping him in two, though Harry was too busy laughing his ass off because Malfoy pissed himself when he recognized the same monster from the World Cup almost three years ago.

"Is it legal to have this much fun pretty much hunting and terrorizing known neo-Nazi terrorists bent on killing everyone who doesn't fit their preference?" asked Owen, watching as Blue, Charlie and Elsa were pretty much mowing down the Death Eaters.

"I have a paper that says it is," said Harry, thinking about it for point-five seconds.

"Oh. Well is _that_ legal?" asked Owen, pointing at the area where some of his Betas were setting up some fireworks, most of which were _banned_ in five countries and a principality.

"I may or may not have found a copy of the Anarchist's Cookbook and given them my credit card, with the caveat that I don't hear anyone bitching about the after party show. Also, they're late with the booze truck. And the entertainment once the girls fall asleep from all the 'food' we gave them."

"Entertainment?" said Owen.

"Entertainment," replied Harry, wagging his eyebrows.

"...Have I ever said you're the _best_ boss I've ever had?"

"I haven't heard that in...two days I think?" said Harry mock thinking about it. "Oh look, more morons! GET 'EM LIZZIE!"

Owen chuckled darkly as Lizzie made the newest batch of idiots shit their pants. Blood, booze, boobs and booms. All four things that men loved.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Hi, Professor McGonagall!" said Harry cheerfully, ignoring the screams with practiced ease.

"Mr. Potter, what..." she stared. "Is that Talon?"

"Talon, Sickle, Scythe and Lizzie is the one ripping that new idiot up. I have a legal document and everything stating that I am in no way responsible or liable for any deaths incurred by engaging the terrorist known as Voldemort or his merry band of morons~!" said Harry, happily displaying said document to his old teacher.

"Oh, a new batch! Elsa, show Lizzie how it's done! Charlie, get in there and help Blue with the stragglers!" said Owen eagerly.

McGonagall and the rest of the Order that had recently arrived, including a certain pair of twins, watched in horror and fascination as the dinosaurs ripped into the Death Eaters.

Mrs. Weasley began to boil over with one of her infamous rants.

Before she could start, and to avoid having her death on his conscious for however long it took to get him dead drunk when they got bored, Harry cheerfully looked her in the eye with his own partially shifted into that of his primary animagus form.

"Mrs. Weasley, they abandoned their right to be 'redeemed' as Dumbledore likes to call it the moment they started targeting innocents. The Queen was not happy with the latest report of Death Eater activity, and even less pleased when she found out your precious 'leader' barely bothered to monitor their movement and only had a single solitary double agent...a man who's loyalty was questionable at best. You weren't doing the job, so she asked me to do it for you, by whatever methods I deemed fit."

He waved his arm towards Lizzie, who thundered up to where he was.

"As you can see, my small team is vastly more effective than this so called 'Order of the Phoenix'. You people lost the moral high ground when you allowed the situation to get this bad in the first place."

"Oi, Commander! The guys are back!" shouted one of Owen's Betas.

"Alright men, let's shut down tonight's operation and par-tay!"

Hearing the loud raucous cheer from his men, and the loud barking calls of the raptors and the two hybrids, they dove in earnest into their jobs.

The twins grinned.

"Can we join?"

"I suppose we have enough booze...and food...but you're on your own with the other entertainment," said Harry.

"BEST BOSS EVER!" cheered Harry's team, with Owen leading the charge.


End file.
